How to Clone Windows Server 2008 R2?

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snugglez64

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Hi guys,

Can someone recommend an application that I can install on Windows Server 2008 R2 in order to clone the OS so that it can be restored on a new hard drive, in the same machine?

I've looked at Norton Ghost 15 but Server 2008 R2 is not supported and I'm out of luck with Acronis True Disk Image as well.

Any other suggestions?
 
pilks said:
Long way round ,WDS?
Click to expand...
I'm not sure what WDS means.. sorry for my noob'ness..
ahhh.. i google'd, will look into it.. thanks!

biometrics said:
Clonezilla?
Click to expand...
Clonezilla makes the image of the physical drive from a boot disk.
I can't do that as the 2008 R2 is currently a VM on VMWare ESXi 4.0 - We'd like to move it to a physical machine.
 
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Symantec Automated System recovery has a 60 day trial and works well.
 
vinodh said:
EaseUS backup supports Server 2008. I've got no personal experience with it but their website indicates that Server 2008 R2 is supported
Click to expand...
I too have read but not tested that on Server ..but I *can* tell you it's worked like a charm on every Win7 installation I've used it on. Definitely worth looking at/trying out.
 
snugglez64 said:
I'm not sure what WDS means.. sorry for my noob'ness..
ahhh.. i google'd, will look into it.. thanks!


Clonezilla makes the image of the physical drive from a boot disk.
I can't do that as the 2008 R2 is currently a VM on VMWare ESXi 4.0 - We'd like to move it to a physical machine.
Click to expand...

Can't you use VMWare converter to convert the VM machine to the physical machine?
 
Now is maybe the best time to go virtual to ease your work in the future

New system install VMWare ESX and just go virtual on the old one http://www.vmware.com/products/converter/

That way all you need to do in future is move the image to new drive/pc. Its also great for other things like making a snapshot before you do software changes.

Oops, saw later you want to make it a physical server.....

May I ask why?
 
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vinodh said:
EaseUS backup supports Server 2008. I've got no personal experience with it but their website indicates that Server 2008 R2 is supported:
http://www.todo-backup.com/support/help/system-requirement.htm
Click to expand...

Thanks.. but might be out of my budget, but I might be able to stretch it if it comes to it.


Elimentals said:
Now is maybe the best time to go virtual to ease your work in the future

New system install VMWare ESX and just go virtual on the old one http://www.vmware.com/products/converter/

That way all you need to do in future is move the image to new drive/pc. Its also great for other things like making a snapshot before you do software changes.

Oops, saw later you want to make it a physical server.....

May I ask why?
Click to expand...

We've been having issues with ESXi, VM's not starting up, corrupted data stores.. Lots of power outages in the area and the UPS only lasts so long. So it could be due to improper shutdowns, not really sure.
We just feel it will be easier to work with/troubleshoot if it was on a physical machine.


TheGuy said:
Symantec Automated System recovery has a 60 day trial and works well.
Click to expand...

Do you know if the trail has any limitations? Cos that is WAY over the budget.. mahYOHH!!

hungrybeaver said:
VMware have a guide on how to do it: http://www.vmware.com/support/v2p/
Click to expand...

That's outdated. Only works until Server 2003. Thanks though.
 
snugglez64 said:
We've been having issues with ESXi, VM's not starting up, corrupted data stores.. Lots of power outages in the area and the UPS only lasts so long. So it could be due to improper shutdowns, not really sure.
We just feel it will be easier to work with/troubleshoot if it was on a physical machine.
Click to expand...

Aaah

Well you can do the following with clonezilla,

Attache a USB drive to the server, and boot that image using clonezilla iso.

Make an image to the USB drive and then boot the physical server with Clonezilla CD. and convert the USB image back to physical. I know its a work around but thats about the best free route I can advise.

If you want to go the pay option the vConverter from Quest can do the trick.

But under both options you will have hardware issues, or simply put you taking a gamble and the server might not even boot up thanx to Windows backwards way of working with drivers/hardware.
 
Elimentals said:
Aaah

Well you can do the following with clonezilla,

Attache a USB drive to the server, and boot that image using clonezilla iso.

Make an image to the USB drive and then boot the physical server with Clonezilla CD. and convert the USB image back to physical. I know its a work around but thats about the best free route I can advise.

If you want to go the pay option the vConverter from Quest can do the trick.

But under both options you will have hardware issues, or simply put you taking a gamble and the server might not even boot up thanx to Windows backwards way of working with drivers/hardware.
Click to expand...


FREEEEEEGIN' AWESOME! You my man are my hero today!

I will give this a go over the weekend and post back on my results. I do know Server 2008 has Sysprep built in so I'm hoping that there won't be any hardware/booting issues.

I wonder why I didn't think of this ;)
 
snugglez64 said:
FREEEEEEGIN' AWESOME! You my man are my hero today!

I will give this a go over the weekend and post back on my results. I do know Server 2008 has Sysprep built in so I'm hoping that there won't be any hardware/booting issues.

I wonder why I didn't think of this ;)
Click to expand...

And did it work?

You never got back :(
 
I can safely say that the cloning does not work and I've tried the options with the additional repairs suggested.

I ended up doing a bare metal restore after a full back. That worked.... perfectly.
 
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