Windows Server 2003 Infinitiley reboot after restoration ?

[albertwt]

Hi All,

I'm about to downsize my Exchange Server 2007 SP1 which is also resides in my Domain Controller, it is now using less than 400 GB spread across 4 different partitions:

1. Dell utility partition 50 MB
2. C:\ OS 50 GB
3. D:\ Database 200 GB
4. F:\ Empty 0 MB
5. L:\ TransactionLOG 800 MB

it is now installed on 5x400 GB SAS 10k rpm RAID 5, PERC 6/i SCSI controller

The target server is the same specs but the Hard Disk is 2x 400 GB SAS 10k RPM RAID 1 - SAS 6/i which give me around 378 GB of usable space.

But then after the restore process, my OS is infinitely restarting ?

I didn't check restore anyware I've also restore each partitions using "Restore Disk signature" options already and only mark the C drive partitions as boot/active ?

Does this because i skipped the Dell Utility partitions or SCSI controller issue :-|

[mikedoubleu]

Hi albertwt,

Sounds like a real pain in the rear!!

I don't quiet understand what you mean by "the restore process". Are you trying to move everything from the old server to the new server, or are you trying to set up Exchange on a seperate server and keep the old server as the domain controller? What software are you using for the restore process?

If you are trying to seperate your exchange server from your DC, the safest way would be to:

Install Windows Server 2003 on the new server
Add the server to the domain
Install Exchange 2007 SP1 on the new server with all the latest updates
Move the mailboxes to the new server using the Exchange management shell/console
Create new send and receive connectors on the new server
Redirect mail delivery to the new server
Uninstall the old Exchange from the old server

It may seem like a long winded process, but it will leave you with a much cleaner install

If you are wanting to decommission the old server and move everything over to a new server, I'd still recommend running the two servers side by side and making them both domain controllers and both exchange servers (as above) and when you think everything is finally using the new server, then remove exchange and dcpromo the old server out of the domain.

Hope that helps

Mike

[albertwt]

Hi albertwt,

Sounds like a real pain in the rear!!

I don't quiet understand what you mean by "the restore process". Are you trying to move everything from the old server to the new server, or are you trying to set up Exchange on a seperate server and keep the old server as the domain controller? What software are you using for the restore process?

If you are trying to seperate your exchange server from your DC, the safest way would be to:

Install Windows Server 2003 on the new server
Add the server to the domain
Install Exchange 2007 SP1 on the new server with all the latest updates
Move the mailboxes to the new server using the Exchange management shell/console
Create new send and receive connectors on the new server
Redirect mail delivery to the new server
Uninstall the old Exchange from the old server

It may seem like a long winded process, but it will leave you with a much cleaner install

If you are wanting to decommission the old server and move everything over to a new server, I'd still recommend running the two servers side by side and making them both domain controllers and both exchange servers (as above) and when you think everything is finally using the new server, then remove exchange and dcpromo the old server out of the domain.

Hope that helps

Mike

Hi Mike,
Thank you very much for your response,

I'm doing server migration from ServerA into ServerB using Symantec Backup Exec System Recovery 2010, it can captures the whole set of the partitions as the backup image and i can restore it into different hardware, this is more like a direct cutover approach, but hten it failed for some unknown reason, when the Windows boot up, it keeps restarting after showing the progress bar.

[mikedoubleu]

OK, there are two main things that could be causing this:

Partition order
Drivers

Firstly, is there a recovery or management partition at the very beginning of the disk on the new server? If so, delete it. Once thats gone, try doing your restore again. Sometimes when there is a recovery/mgmt partition on the server, it forces the Windows partition to adopt the wrong partition number and leaves you with an unbootable system. I appreciate that the old server has one of these partitions too, but Symantec may be trying to take account of this and incorrectly assigning partition numbers.

You can use a recovery cd such as Hiren's, ERD, or even Ubuntu to find and delete the partition.

If that doesn't fix it, I'd be fairly certain it is going to be either a raid/scsi/ide or chipset driver that isn't being replaced by the Symantec tools correctly.

If all else fails, it may be worth considering installing VMWare ESXi (its free) on the new server, and then using the free VMWare Convertor to turn your physical server in to a virtual server on the new box. This is all but guaranteed to work so if you need to free up the old server quickly, its an option.

[deanc]

also I thought Microsoft advise against installing exchange on domain controllers now, or has that changed with 2007?

[albertwt]

Hi Dean yes I know that it is not a recommended config.
but that was a legacy install previously from the day we have one windows server only.

To Mike,
yes you're right I skipped one empty unused partition and reordering the partition layout

the target server was installed with esxi before and it adds additional difficulty since symantec doesn't recognized the partitions.

[tmcd35]

I take it you have a) the original server still working and b) a copy of the image made by Backup Exec in a safe place?

If you can answer yes two both of those then I'd say through in a Windows Server 2003 CD and do a repair install of Windows on your new server. When I've had this in the past (when virtualising machines) this has solved the problem. What the worst that could happen? You have to restore the server with the Backup Exec image and you are back to where you are now. The best, Windows boots, all data and software in tact and you just need to go and find a few drivers to complete the setup.

[mikedoubleu]

@albertwt

Ah, so if ESXi was installed, then it will have deleted the Dell utility partition. I guess if tis is the case, the problem will be that on the old server will have the windows partition as #2 but the new server will have it as #1

You could try:

Pop a boot CD such as Hirens or Ubuntu in and loading a prtition editor
Delete all partitions on the new server
Create a single primary partition as #1 on the hard disk with a size of 100MB or something small
Re-doing the restore, making sure Symantec will not remove the primary partition you just created
Reboot and pray

Otherwise, tmcd35 is quiet right, bung a Server 2003 (SP2 if possible) CD in the drive and run a repair on the install. This is almost definitely going to fix the problem as it will correct any entries in the OS that point to the wrong partition number.

Cheers

Mike

[MicrodigitUK]

Sounds like the HAL to me. Are both of the servers identical with the mother boards and processors. If not what's the spec of each one. You can change the HAL but it's a bit of a pain to do.

[DMcCoy]

One is SAS, one is SCSI. You could try installing the drivers for the SAS card before taking the backup image on the old server. Sysprep can do similar but can't be run on DCs (and I wouldn't do it to exchange either). The restored boot.ini will also be wrong if there are a different number of partitions