NEC Express5800 Fault Tolerant Virtual Server Quick Start Guide
24
backup the data from the physical file server and restore it to the virtual machine. The exact process will vary
greatly depending on the software your organization uses as a backup recovery solution. There are three basic
approaches to this migration:
•
Bare metal restores
. If your backup and recovery solution supports a bare metal restore it is capable
of performing a full system recovery in a single process. It is important that you verify that you will be
able to access the backup volume set from within the virtual machine environment. As Virtual Server
2005 R2 SP1 does not support Plug and Play (PnP) buses such as USB and IEEE 1394 you will have
to be able to access the recovery data via local hard drive, CD or DVD drive or over the network using
pre-boot execution (PXE). You should discuss the options with the supplier of your backup and
recovery solution before you plan to use this approach for the migration of your physical server.
•
Data and configuration recovery
. This approach requires you to install an operating system on the
target system, which you use to launch the recovery process. The recovery process re-configures the
operating system and restores data and applications.
•
Data recovery
. If you configure your recovery solution to backup the user’s data only, you will have to
configure the new operating system environment to match the physical file server before you will be
able to restore the data. For example, you will have to create the required folders, shares, and access
permissions before you restore the user data.
Whichever solution you use there are a few important steps that you should follow to complete the migration
process:
BEFORE you take the physical server offline:
Allocate sufficient time to complete a full backup of the physical file server.
Ensure no users are able to change the data on the physical server during or after the backup completes.
Record all relevant shares and permissions on the physical server to help with service validation after
you restore FS1.
Remove the physical file server from the domain and use
Active Directory Sites and Services
to
replicate the removal of the computer object to all domain controllers.
Rename the physical file server and take it offline before starting the migration process for the virtual
machine.
DO NOT
remove any data from this server until you have confirmed the migration process has completed
correctly on the FS1 virtual machine.
AFTER the physical server is offline:
Use your organization’s backup and recovery solution to complete a restoration of the file server
configuration and data.
Install Virtual Machine Additions.
Ensure all user data, system configuration information, applications, and permissions are correctly
restored to the FS1 virtual machine.
After you have confirmed the successful migration of the server, you should ensure that you remove the
old data securely from the physical servers’ hard drives.
DO NOT
bring the physical server back online without re-installing the operating system. Failure to
complete this step can cause problems if you attempt to join the physical server to the domain again.
Email Server (EX1) Build Checklist
The email server migration uses a similar “side-by-side” approach to that used for the domain controller
migration. The Exchange Server infrastructure and tools allow you to create a new Exchange Server and move
