INFO: OBDR (One Button Disaster Recovery)

UBQ ID Number: UBQ000127

Last Modified: 2000-06-13 at 10:44:59

SUMMARY:

DETAILS:

HP & UltraBac One-Button Disaster Recovery

HP has released a new feature for SureStore DAT8 and DAT24 tape drives that when used in conjunction with UltraBac and the disaster recovery/image option, allows an NT/2000 Workstation/Professional or Server to be completely recovered as quickly as possible.

This hardware-based feature makes backing up and preparing for disaster one and the same process. Using UltraBac with the OBDR option, every back up automatically copies the disaster recovery software and an image of the OS disk drive onto the same media cartridge. This process eliminates the need for maintaining a separate set of disaster recovery floppies.

When disaster does strike, only the last UltraBac backup tape is needed to completely restore the system. By pressing one button, the tape drive goes into one-button disaster recovery (OBDR) mode of operation. In OBDR mode, the drive's firmware mimics a bootable CD-ROM and instructs the computer to boot the operating system from the UltraBac backup tape. When this is complete, the drive then reverts to normal mode and the UltraBac Disaster Recovery software automatically restores the disk using image technology.

Key benefits of HP & UltraBac One-Button Disaster Recovery

Recover a failed machine by inserting the most recent backup tape and pushing one button on the tape drive. UltraBac and your HP SureStore DAT drive will then quickly restore your operating system, configuration, applications, drivers and data files.
You will no longer need to search for software disks and manuals, and with downtime reduced, the cost implications are minimized.
Attempting to recover from a disaster manually can create an enormous amount of stress that in turn can interject operator errors into the process and compound the disaster. The HP & UltraBac One-Button Disaster Recovery is so simple that the risk of a user-error being made during the recovery process is significantly reduced.

Creating the OBDR Image File

Create the OBDR Image File through the "UltraBac Disaster Recovery Disk/OBDR Image File Generator". Select from UltraBac's main menu "Tools"/"Make floppies/OBDR Image for Disaster Recovery" or select from NT's Task Bar, "Start"/" Programs"/"UltraBac"/"Make Disaster Recovery Floppies and OBDR Image" or run MakeDisk.exe from Microsoft's NT DOS Prompt (e.g. C:\>UltraBac\MakeDisk.exe). Note: This utility (MakeDisk.exe) will run on Windows NT 3.51 and 4.0, and Windows 2000. However, the source of the driver cache, required to create the OBDR Image file must be the Windows NT 4.0 installation files (typically the Windows NT 4.0 server CD). A user creating the OBDR Image file on a Windows 2000 system will be prompted to provide a path to the Windows NT 4.0 installation files (typically the I386 directory of the Windows NT 4.0 installation CD). See UBQ: UBQ000157 Creating SADR Floppies, CD-ROM or OBDR Image Files on a Non-Target Computer.

NOTE: The "MakeDisk.exe" utility, which creates the OBDR Image file, will not be included in UltraBac 6.3 and above. If you wish to utilize the OBDR function with your HP SureStore DAT drive, then contact UltraBac Technical Support and request the "MakeDisk.exe" for OBDR.

Figure 1: Disaster Recovery Disk

Select "OBDR Image File" to create the OBDR Image.

Select "Local Install File Cache" to create or update the cache. Whenever non-default SCSI or tape drivers are added the cache should be updated.

When the "Use Original Windows NT Installation Files" is selected, enter a valid path by selecting "Specify" (e.g. F:\I386 where F: is the CD-ROM drive and I386 is a folder on the Windows NT Server or Workstation installation CD-ROM disk). When un-selected, the "Local Install File Cache" will be used expediting the disk or image creation process. Note: When un-selected the local install file cache must exist – see the "Local Install File Cache" option.

"Use 3rd-Party Tape Driver...." allows the addition of any driver not otherwise listed. Select "Specify" to specify the path to the driver. Note: Only one 3rd party tape driver may be specified.

Select "Show Known Optional Drivers", and "Show This Machine's Drivers" to display available drivers. The "Use UltraBac Drivers" option will replace the NT native drivers with UltraBac's enhanced drivers. This change is reflected in the "Source" field. Drivers displayed with a blue check mark or red exclamation mark will be included. To exclude a displayed driver, click on it to remove the blue check mark.

"Add SCSI Driver" allows the addition of SCSI drivers not otherwise listed. Select "Specify" to specify the path to the driver.

The "Floppy Drive" is used by the SADR (Stand Alone Disaster Recovery) floppy creation and is not used for the OBDR Image File creation. Instead the OBDR image file "OBDR.img" is created in the <UltraBac Root>\Recover folder.

Select "Continue" to create the OBDR image file.

Creating a OBDR backup

To perform OBDR backups the "Tools"/"Preferences"/"Media Preferences"/"Enable OBDR" option must be turned on prior to preparing the storage media.

Figure 2: Enable OBDR

After enabling OBDR and after creating the OBDR.img file in the <UltraBac Root>\Recover directory, the storage media will be prepared for OBDR either manually by using the option path, "Tools"/"Media Tools"/"Prepare for UltraBac" or automatically if UltraBac is set to automatically clear the storage media. After the storage media is prepared for OBDR, backup the image(s) to storage media as you would a non-OBDR image backup.

Note: When manually preparing the storage media, make sure the active storage device (the storage device displayed on the UltraBac main screen title bar) is set to an OBDR compatible storage device. See the "Hardware and Software Compatibility" section below for compatible storage devices.

Note: Standard Images to tape and Static Mirror Images to disk can be restored using the OBDR image but not Standard Images to disk-paths.

Restoring using OBDR

To restore using OBDR the tape device must be powered on with the eject button held down. This will cause the tape device lights to alternate repeatedly. Set the computers BIOS to boot to SCSI. (Typically holding the delete key down while booting will invoke the computer's BIOS.) Enter the SCSI BIOS (the key sequence is SCSI specific, but is typically entered during the boot process also.) Scan the SCSI bus to determine which bus id represents the tape device. Setup the SCSI adapter to boot to the tape device id. Setup the device to start (or spin) at boot time. Setup BIOS support for Bootable CD-ROM. Exit the SCSI BIOS and while booting select boot form SCSI CD-ROM (again the key sequence is SCSI specific).

Performing the restore from this point is the same as restoring from the SADR floppies.

See UBQ: UBQ000058 Stand Alone Image Backup/Restore Using Floppies – Intel & Alpha.

Software and Hardware Compatibility

HP One-Button Disaster Recovery is available with HP SureStore DDS-2, DDS-3 and DDS-4 external and internal models.

Hardware compatibility for HP One-Button Disaster Recovery has been tested and assured on a wide range of popular servers and workstations using the embedded SCSI buses or plug-in Adaptec or Symbios HBA cards.

Hewlett-Packard

Kayak XA*
Kayak XA-s*
Kayak XU*
Kayak XW*
NetServer E-series (E40, E45, E50, E60)NetServer LC-series (LC2, LC3)
NetServer LH Pro, LH Plus, LH2
NetServer LH3 and LH4*
NetServer LPr*
NetServer LXr 8000 using plug-in AHA2940UW (BIOS update available Fall 1999)

* Requires a SCSI BIOS update for embedded Symbios/LSI SCSI if purchased before May 1, 1999 (Kayaks) or June 1, 1999 (NetServer LH3/4 and LPr). BIOS updates for provide with tape drive. BIOS updates for NetServer LH3/4 and LPr available on NetServer Navigator L15.15

Compaq

ProLiant 1600 (using plug-in AHA2940UW or AHA2940U2W cards)
ProLiant 3000 (using plug-in AHA2940UW or AHA2940U2W cards)
ProLiant 5000 (using plug-in AHA2940UW or AHA2940U2W cards)
ProLiant 5500 (using plug-in AHA2940UW or AHA2940U2W cards)
ProLiant 6000 (using plug-in AHA2940UW or AHA2940U2W cards)

Compaq and Symbios SCSI interfaces are not supported due to Compaq BIOS incompatibility. You will need to update the Adaptec BIOS to v2.11 or higher for the AHA2940UW and AHA2940U2W (updates available on Adaptec Web site). Plug-in SCSI HBAs for use in the above systems include: