ASR Backup on Windows Server 2003 With Tape Drive.

We have IBM servers with Windows server 2003 SP1 R2 standard edition.
I want to perform ASR backup on it ( On the Tape Drive ).

My question is ,when we install a tape drive on some servers we
need to install the drivers of that perticular tape drive.When i take
ASR backup on tape drive and floppy then i go to restore it from the
tape drive at that time we need the drivers of the tape drive for
detection ?

Because windows server 2003 Media cannot contain any drivers of
tape drive.

So in that case which steps can i follow for best practices ?

Please Help !


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Akshay N Manke
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Can't be done, (officially).

You must use either:
a) tape drive from the HCL list, ie for which the drivers are available on
the installation media.
b) Disk media.
c) It is also possible to integrate ASR with RIS and restore over the
network. I don't know if it will work now that RIS is replaced by WDS.

I've heard of some attempts to package drivers inside a drivers.cab and
rebuilding installation media, but it's simply too complicated and not worth
the effort.

You've got several other options:
a) Third party solution.
b) WinRE, Windows Recovery Environment introduced with Vista/Win2008, but
can be applied to WinXP/Win2003. Take a look at WAIK and MDT.
c) Make a parallel (shadow) installation of your Win2003 on another physical
drive for recovery purpose. I used to do it often in the past on some
mission critical servers. After installation, you may pull the disk out of
the system (if it's hot swap) and keep it in the safe place.

So what's the best practice?

Rule #1
The only good backup is the one that can be restored.

Rule #2
Practice, practice, practice.
Like firemen or pilots. Know what to do in every circumstance.

Rule #3
Document, document, document.
Form a team. Don't rely on a single person. Several people must be competent
to do the job and everyone of them must know what to do in every
circumstance.

Rule #4
Make a battle pack of all you may need. Prepare a set of tools; real tools
like Cybertool, processor cooling paste, DVD's, license keys, certificates,
spare disk drives, spare tape drives, backup sets. Keep it in a safe place,
away from your Datacenter.

Rule #5
Get management support. Call a meeting. Prepare a spreadsheet with following
columns:
a) Risk (describe what can go wrong).
b) Cost per hour of lost productivity.
c) Remediation.
d) Remediation cost.
Then go step by step and explain each step. If you've got example to show,
so much the better. I was present at a factory when whole morning a line of
big trucks was being held. They couldn't be loaded and let go because a
warehouse server was down.

Rule #6
Don't take a cheap solution. "You're simply not reach enough to buy cheap".
I just had a case a few days ago. A cheap server died and we didn't know if
it's a PSU, motherboard or CPU. I also had a brand name computer around that
could be opened only with a latch, without using any tools. It was easy to
disassemble it and take out PSU and CPU for testing in a failed computer. On
the other hand, it took ages to disassemble the cheap computer and test all
the components until we finaly diagnosed a faulty motherboard.

Good luck.

"Akshay N Manke" <Akshay.N.Manke.3sgvrd@DoNotSpam.com> wrote in message
news:Akshay.N.Manke.3sgvrd@DoNotSpam.com...
>
> We have IBM servers with Windows server 2003 SP1 R2 standard edition.
> I want to perform ASR backup on it ( On the Tape Drive ).
>
> My question is ,when we install a tape drive on some servers we
> need to install the drivers of that perticular tape drive.When i take
> ASR backup on tape drive and floppy then i go to restore it from the
> tape drive at that time we need the drivers of the tape drive for
> detection ?
>
> Because windows server 2003 Media cannot contain any drivers of
> tape drive.
>
> So in that case which steps can i follow for best practices ?
>
> Please Help !
>
>
> --
> Akshay N Manke
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Akshay N Manke's Profile: http://forums.techarena.in/members/99223.htm
> View this thread:
> http://forums.techarena.in/windows-server-help/1183102.htm
>
> http://forums.techarena.in
>