Hi Charles,

I'm glad you said "not using IDR", because IDR will fail in these circumstances.

They key here is twofold. First, when you restore your C:\Windows\System32 directory, overwriting all files, you shouldn't actually overwrite the driver for the RAID files. This is because the raid driver is a .sys file, which should have a different name depending on the card. So it should still be there.

If you hunt somewhere around your BE restore options, you'll see that when restoring the System State (registry) you can set it to "merge" the ENUM key, rather than overwrite it. This is the key where hardware setup is managed. In other words, you should not have an issue.

Nothing can be guaranteed unfortunately however.

Have you checked this document?
http://support.veritas.com/docs/190616

Regards, Ashutosh NOTE : If we do not receive your reply within two business days, this post would be marked assumed answered and would be moved to answered questions pool.

Joshua,

Thanks for the great info. I see what you mean about the restore not overwriting the new driver as it will just add to the old one to the system directory. I suppose the issue would be with the registry/system state setting that tells Windows which driver to use.

I saw the merge rather than overwrite option that you mentioned. Is BE smart enough to know when merging and has to choose which driver to use that'll keep the active one?

Unfortunately this is a small shop and this is their sole server. The longer I work on this, the longer the downtime.

You don't seem a fan of IDR. I've been reading about it more, and it seems that IDR (using its option to prompt for a different different) is the prescribed way to do this. Sounds appealing. Why do you suggest against IDR? Just curious.

Thanks,
Charles

Ashutosh,

since the Technote you gave is "How to recover a system with a RAID array using the Intelligent Disaster Recovery Option " and the intial post specifically said "not using IDR"

How does your response relate and/or help in any way?

Hi Charles,

You're quite correct on my feelings towards IDR.

IDR has two faults. First, it barely ever works. Just look over this very forum. Every second post involves a problem with IDR.

Secondly, IDR you are incorrect about using IDR the way it is prescribed. The whole "design concept" of IDR is to allow you to restore to EACTLY the same hardware eg you formatted your drive and want to get back online.
The commonly used scenario of using Veritas BE to change hardware etc.. actually excludes IDR from being usable.

Regarding being able to merge the registry keys, short answer is "yes".

The real answer is "no, but that doesn't matter". It doesn't hurt to load both your old and new driver on a system- the old one just fires up and decides it's worthless. When you restore, the merge is literal, meaning it just restores what you have no tape, and doesn't overwrite anything already there.

Ashutosh, are you a real person, or some kind of automated reply? Because I can only understand how you managed to make that post, if you were the latter.

Hi Charles,

Please let us know if the earlier replies have helped you in resolving the issue.


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NOTE : If we do not receive your reply within two business days, this post would be marked assumed answered and would be moved to answered questions pool.

I don't want to sound to simple but can't you install a new OS with the apropriate RAID drives, create the containers you've had and re-insert your disks again ?

Regards
A van der Boom

Hello,

Please see the administrators guide to do manual restore:

http://support.veritas.com/docs/279401

Please let us know whether the solution provided earlier has helped you.


Thanks,

NOTE : If we do not receive your reply within two business days, this post would be marked assumed answered and would be moved to answered questions pool.

Yes, thanks to the helpful and knowledgeable advice. I think I'll proceed in preparing the IDR as it says (supposedly the instructions say you can use a different RAID hardware) and trying that. If that works great. If not, and most likely, I'll follow the standard install OS, BE, restore (but using the merge hardware info option that was helpfully suggested).

Thanks all,
Charles

Yes, thanks to the helpful and knowledgeable advice. I think I'll proceed in preparing the IDR as it says (supposedly the instructions say you can use a different RAID hardware) and trying that. If that works great. If not, and most likely, I'll follow the standard install OS, BE, restore (but using the merge hardware info option that was helpfully suggested).

Thanks all,
Charles