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RAID1 with Intel Rapid Storage - Move system to new SSDs on HW-RAID - HowTo?

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Hey there,
this weekend I have to do some tests with my server (Win 2012R2).
On a test-system I want to try some migration steps.

The task is:
- move the system volume (2 SSDs in a RAID1) from onboard SATA to a Broadcom RAID controller

Before doing that I´d like to check, whether ABA 12.5 is basically capable of handling the things I want to try.

So the situation is:
- 2 SDDs connected to the onboard SATA controller
- the 2 SDDs build a RAID1,controlled with Intel Rapid Storage
- On this RAID Array the system volume of the Win 2012R2 server is located

- I created a linux based bootable media with license key, so backups should be possible

My plan is:
- remove one of the 2 disks
- the RAID is then marked as degraded and runs from the remaining SDD

In the first moment this is a working operation mode.

Then:
- Make a backup of the running disk with the bootable media
- Disconnect the remaining SSD
- Insert a completely new SSD in the PC, connecting it to a real RAID controller (Broadcom 9361-8i)
- Restore the previously made backup to this disk
- create a RAID1 with a second SSD

Is ABA capable of assisting me in these steps?

Can the bootable media create backups of disks that are in a RAID controlled by Intel Rapid Storage?

Regards
Sven

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Posts: 0
Comments: 2016

Hello Sven,

thank you for posting on Acronis forums!

Actually, you can use Acronis software to back up the system on a daily basis without using Acronis Bootable Media. If for some reason the restore is required (e.g. moving system to another hardware, a hard drive failure, broken system etc.), then the restore can be performed from any of your daily backups that were created on your Windows/Linux environment. For this restore operation you will need Acronis Bootable Media.

There is no need to insert one drive, then restore, then add another drive to set up a RAID array. You can configure the RAID configuration as you want and restore your backup there. However, when restoring to dissimilar hardware, you will face a problem with the system drivers which can lead to the boot failure with 0x7B. In order to avoid this,you need to use Acronis Universal Restore option that allows installing the drivers during the restore operation.

Please refer to the respective article in Acronis Knowledge Base for detailed instructions: https://kb.acronis.com/content/35681

So, answering you questions, I would recommend the following:
- The backup can be created from the Windows environment; of course, the bootable media can be used to create the backup and this operation can be performed only using a full version of Acronis software: the backup function in the trial bootable media is not active.
- If you need to restore to dissimilar hardware (like changing RAID controller) then you need to use Acronis Universal Restore (more information in the provided KB article).
- You can set up the new RAID array as you want before restoring the backup. Acronis Bootable Media should detect it and allow restoring to this RAID configuration. It should see it correctly, not as two or more separate disks.

Thank you.

Hi Sven!

To answer your last questions, I followed your scenario on my TestPC which also has a RAID controlled by Intel Rapid Storage. Since I don't have a dedicated raid controller, I simply restored to this same setup. My steps:

  1. Made a backup of the working raid setup (backup by machine agent)
  2. Remove one of the drives. The remaining one is now degraded.
  3. Make a backup of the degraded raid volume (backup performed by bootable media)
  4. Remove the remaining drive and install two new ones
  5. Create a new RAID volume of them. (Apparently intel RS can't create raid with only one disk, and can't add one later, maybe the windows software of RS can do this, but I figured this is enough)
  6. Using the bootable media restore the backup made from the degraded drive to this new RAID. The RAID is now healthy and mirrored.
  7. Using the bootable media restore the backup made from the old RAID to double check. The RAID is now healthy and mirrored.

-- Peter

can somebody help with this issue:

HP server has RAID1 based on two 300Gb hard drives. I want to test the backup I made and do server restore. I used the same server, the same RAID 1 drive but Acronis can't do restore...

this time I used boot-media to restore the backup...

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If I use web-console to restore the server then I see this error text on 87% of restore progress. Pressing "Ignore all" button skip all this errors and server started with no issues.

The same issue I found in restoring workstations that has drive C: on "RAID 1" volume. Looks like "RAID 1" storages needs some additional restoration steps in Acronis...

Hi SCH!

With Intel Rapid Storage I could select the RAID 1 disk to restore to itself, so it works in my case.

  • What raid controller is in the HP server? You might need to include a driver for that with the bootable media
  • Was the backup a sector by sector backup?
  • Try selecting volumes, and map those to your disk instead of selecting the disk for recovery. It might help uncover the underlying issue

-- Peter

Hello, Peter!

1. integrated to the motherboard controller in both cases - for server and for workstation. models - DL380, DL580 for servers and ZXX for workstations.

2. Never used that type of backups. General type of backup.

3. Tried that too. Acronis asked to place each volume from backup to the the harddrive (even hidden system volumes). And finally it says that there are no space for one of the volume...

did you see my screenshot? Acronis says that there are no space to restore server backup on the same C: drive... But this error I get only if I boot from Acronis CD.

When I restore server (or workstation) with web-console I see the same error but on ~87% of restore progress. I press "Ignore all errors" button and restoring is finishing to 100%. After that OS is booting normal.

Looks like Acronis compare bytes of the partition you selected (RESTORE TO) and bytes in partition you want to restore... And some how the size is different.

Looks like I have to decrease partition of each C: drive manually in Windows... lets say for 1Gb..

Or Acronis is better to have option for online decreasing the size of the restoring volumes to fit the volume you selected to restore.

Hi SCH!

Yes I saw your screenshot, but couldn't reproduce this situation. I had no such errors at this screen, though I also had RAID in the interface column not SCSI.

However I did use the bootable media to resize partitions that existed on the disk I wanted to restore to. If you clear the automatic mapping and assign volumes manually you can edit each partition in the "properties" option under each target volume. Can't find this feature within backup console though.

-- Peter

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Posts: 0
Comments: 2016

Hello SCH,

thanks for posting on Acronis forums.

When you restore from Acronis Bootable Media, it recreates new partition/volumes on the target drive consistently writing each block. Thus, if any of the partition/volume were created somehow in a non-standard way (e.g. by resizing, adding unallocated space etc.) the total amount of used blocks could not coincide as if they were created in series - this could be a reason of the error message that you've shared.

If I use web-console to restore the server then I see this error text on 87% of restore progress. Pressing "Ignore all" button skip all this errors and server started with no issues.

Do you mean that you see absolutely the same error message or anything different?

Peter has suggested you the optimal way:

 

Try selecting volumes, and map those to your disk instead of selecting the disk for recovery. It might help uncover the underlying issue

At any case, this issue needs to be reported and investigated. I recommend that you open a case with Acronis Support Team for these needs. You will be required to collect Acronis System Information after reproducing this issue in Acronis Bootable Media and Acronis System Information after reproducing this issue in Windows and Acronis System Information collected from the source machine in order to compare the data.