Breaking Through the Dissimilar Hardware Challenge

WHITE PAPER: SY Breaking Through the DissimilarST Hardware Restore ChallengeEM RECOVERYWhite Paper: System Recovery
Breaking Through the Dissimilar
Hardware Restore Challenge
Contents
Hardware failure is inevitable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Automated system recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Manual system recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Duplicate hardware for disaster recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
Hardware-independent restore, a critical component of system recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
The Restore Anyware capability enabling recovery to dissimilar physical computers . . . . . . . . . . . .7
Restore Anyware and recovery to virtual computer environments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
Restore Anyware for hardware migration and hardware repurposing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
Hardware migration strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
Repurposing hardware for optimal resource utilization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12
A new option for meeting strict RTOs and upping disaster tolerance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13
Defining "disaster tolerance" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14
What is your Recovery Time Objective (RTO) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15Breaking Through the Dissimilar Hardware Restore Challenge
When Symantec Backup ExecT System Recovery (formerly Symantec LiveStateT Recovery) was "LiveState Recovery brings critical systemsback online faster and makes the ITfirst released, it changed the way that bare metal system recovery was performed for Windows® administrator's job easier-and it reducessystems, making it rapid, simple, and reliable. Now with the latest release and the Restore the road warrior's nightmare to anAnyware capability, Backup Exec System Recovery enables unprecedented speed and ease of inconvenience." recovery to dissimilar hardware platforms. Dianne McAdamSenior Analyst & PartnerData Mobility Group (DMG)Hardware failure is inevitableTo combat the erosion of data and the failure of systems, backup procedures must be designed toaccount for the eventual failure of a computer's hardware. Computer hardware has a finite lifetime.And electronic media is transitory because it must continually be juggled from one storage deviceto another during its lifetime. While many system failures do not involve hardware failure, thosethat do must still be addressed in a timely and cost-effective manner. Even if the hardware must bereplaced, the need for a rapid system recovery solution exists. Bare metal recovery has two majorapproaches: automated and manual. Each approach has its uses.
Automated system recoveryAutomated bare metal recovery is designed for rapid, systematic recovery. By using automation,procedures are more likely to be predictable and simple. The user will not require as muchtraining, and therefore, the automation approach should also be more reliable. AutomatedWindows system recovery does, however, have limitations. Because an operating system, with itsunique configuration, is designed at the time of installation for a specific hardware device, anautomated recovery cannot account for dissimilar hardware components at the core of the newcomputer system.The most problematic components are the Windows HAL, or Hardware Abstraction Layer; the kernel; and storage controllers. When a Windows system boots, these three elements must becorrectly assigned to the hardware, or Windows will not boot. Solving additional device conflictsare less critical because, once loaded, Windows makes these devices easy to detect and install.
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