Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Cluster Server Integration

Automated System Recovery (ASR)

Automated System Recovery is a complex process and must be well organized. It is not sufficient to

backup the environment. To be prepared for the real disaster, the disaster recovery process must be

executed and verified in advance. Important issues are complete backups, appropriate network

settings and correct drivers for mass storage controllers - particularly missing HBA drivers will prevent

ASR from recognizing and recreating shared disks.

Note: Only local shared storage (connected to cluster nodes via SCSI) is fully supported in cluster

environments for ASR. Shared storage on disk arrays connected to cluster nodes via Fibre Channel

(for example: EVA or XP disk arrays) is only supported if appropriate device drivers are provided

during the initial phase of ASR recovery (by pressing F6). This enables Windows 2003 Setup to

correctly detect shared storage located on disk arrays.

Cluster Backup

One single full backup session is a prerequisite for a successful ASR, which must include:

• All physical nodes including local disks.

• All virtual nodes including shared disks.

• The IDB virtual node, if Data Protector is configured as a cluster-aware application.

Note: Perform a full client backup after each hardware, software or configuration change and update

the ASR diskettes. This also applies to any network configuration changes, such as change of the IP

address or DNS server.

Hardware Documentation

It is recommended to create a preparation template, as required for the Assisted Manual Disaster

Recovery. It could be useful in case the ASR partly fails and e.g. shared disks must be manually

created. Please check the HP OpenView Storage Data Protector 5.5 Administrator’s Guide –

Appendix A Further Information – Windows Manual Disaster Recovery Preparation Template.

Furthermore, the configuration of any cluster-aware tape device should be documented including

hardware paths. This is valuable information for the local restore mode.

ASR Set

An ASR set is a collection of files stored on three (32-bit Windows) or four diskettes (64-bit Windows),

required for:

• Proper reconfiguration of the replacement disk (disk partitioning and logical volume configuration).

• Automatic recovery of the original system configuration.

• The user data that was backed up during the full client backup.

These files are stored on the Cell Manager as an ASR archive file in the shared directory

“<File Share>\Config\Server\dr\asr” as well as on the backup medium.

Note: Create the ASR set for the Cell Manager in advance, because you will not be able to obtain the

ASR archive file after the disaster. ASR sets for other systems can be created using Cell Manager

when a disaster occurs.