Re: How does RAID 1 work in restore situation - Briefly.
Thank you. You said "File system corruption or a failure of Windows
(perhaps due to some registry problems) are far more likely. "
That's a worry as I have been mainly focusing on hardware.
However I have searched for backup solutions and they are usually very
complex as their target is large corporations.
This server is used by 6 people, 1 app over Terminal Services.
Would the BACKUP utility on W2003 be sufficient to store the WHOLE system on
an external USB harddrive which would then be used to boot from?
--
Regards
Tom
"Pegasus (MVP)" wrote:
> With "unplug" I mean just this: Pull out the IDE cable. Do it with
> a quick, firm move.
>
> While it is correct that the original disk may no longer be available
> four years down the track, it is even more likely that you will need
> larger disks by then. At that stage you would have several options if
> one of your mirrored disks should fail:
> a) Replace it with an identical disk, or
> b) Replace it with a larger disk, or
> c) Replace both disks with larger disks.
> d) Continue with a single disk.
>
> Keep in mind that modern disks are very reliable and that a failure
> is quite unlikely. File system corruption or a failure of Windows
> (perhaps due to some registry problems) are far more likely. You
> should therefore ask yourself: What would you do if Windows won't
> boot up? Your mirrored disks won't help you here. Do you have
> a mechanism in place to recover from this situation, with a minimum
> of cost or downtime?
>
> "ThomasAJ" <ThomasAJ@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:C9B5CFB7-FA71-4FD8-8B6F-5DBDFC4508E3@microsoft.com...
> > When you say "unplug the data cable" can you please elaborate on that.
> >
> > Also should I purchase an identical 3rd. drive. Bear in mind that failure
> > may occur 4 years down the track and the original drive may not be
> > available
> > and if it is then shipping may take a while during which time there will
> > be
> > no RAID 1.
> >
> > --
> > Regards
> > Tom
> >
> >
> > "Pegasus (MVP)" wrote:
> >
> >>
> >> "ThomasAJ" <ThomasAJ@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> >> news:FBBEBA70-5D7F-4403-BA0A-47DFEC2EE53D@microsoft.com...
> >> >I know Raid 1 uses 2 identical disks and stores the data identically on
> >> >each
> >> > one.
> >> > I also only want to talk about hardware raid. I have a very simple
> >> > W2003
> >> > setup with 5 users on Terminal Services.
> >> >
> >> > I want to upgrade my 3YO IBM X206 with a new server that has hardware
> >> > raid
> >> > and 2 drives. The new server has cold-swap drives feature. (I cannot
> >> > get
> >> > any
> >> > technical person from IBM to talk to me - go figure)
> >> >
> >> > So what happens when a drive fails?
> >> > Does the W2003 know about? Does it issue a message? Does it stop
> >> > working
> >> > altogether until whatever is done?
> >> > Should I purchase a 3rd IDENTICAL drive so when one fails it can take
> >> > over?
> >> > Does it takeover automatically? or do I replace the fallen over one
> >> > with
> >> > it?
> >> >
> >> > OK you see I have no experience at the recovery end. I have spent a lot
> >> > of
> >> > hours scouring the IBM site in order to find out how raid works from
> >> > beggining to end. No luck.
> >> >
> >> > --
> >> > Regards
> >> > Tom
> >>
> >> You're talking about a disk mirror. When one of your disks fails
> >> then the system generates an error message but it continues
> >> operating normally. This gives you the opportunity to shut down
> >> the system, replace the failed disk and rebuild the mirror. There
> >> is no automatic failover in a RAID1 configuration.
> >>
> >> To gain confidence, you should go through a practice run with
> >> you mirror. Unplug the data cable and watch what happens (but
> >> switch the system off before you plug it back in again!). See
> >> if you can boot the machine with one or the other mirror disks.
> >>
> >>
> >>
>
>
>