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RE: Making a bootable rescue CD



This is just another crazy thought on the subject.  My backup strategy is a
little different.  I run both NT server and Linux.  Both are Internet
servers where data changes very rarely.  I am using PowerQuest drive image
to make images of both hard drives in both servers.  Neither server takes up
more than 600MB and will take up less when it's image is compressed.

The plan is this, make these two images and then burn two CDs for the
images.  When a failure comes, insert a DOS boot floppy with CD-ROM drivers.
Then start PowerQuest on second floppy.  Restore HD from CD.

Experiences:

I have used DriveImage to backup and restore both servers.
For NT I:
1. Made an image from Drive1 to DriveX.
2. Replaced Drive1 with Drive2.
3. Restore image from DriveX to Drive2.
4. Booted machine

NT server rebooted to the second restored HD without a hitch.  It resised
the image on the fly for the different geometry as well.

For Linux I:
1. Sector by sector copied from Drive1 to Drive2
2. Swapped Drive1 and Drive2
3. Boot machine

The second disk would not boot with the boot floppy.  The original disk
booted fine without the boot floppy.

Just my experiences.  Anyone have any other different backup methods?  Or
comments on my way that would improve it...

paul

-----Original Message-----
From: Joe Block [mailto:jpb@creol.ucf.edu]
Sent: Tuesday, October 05, 1999 2:18 PM
To: debian-user@lists.debian.org
Subject: Making a bootable rescue CD


Marc Haber mentioned this yesterday and I mistakenly sent him a private
reply instead of replying to the list.

I'm also interested in creating a debian rescue floppy that either mounts
/usr from a CD or preferably from a server via nfs.

My goal is to be able to stick a floppy in an ailing W95/98/NT machine
and mount its HD and copy the useful data to a network server before
reformatting and reinstalling.  I've had some problems lately with client
machines that spontaneously (the users didn't make any changes, they
_promise_)
stopped seeing their network card and required a reinstall of Windows from
scratch to fix the problem.

So, my question, I guess, is what exactly do I need to do to make the
inital rescue floppy? I presume I can just burn a copy of /usr to a CD, or
export it via nfs, but I'm concerned about how I'm going to get all the
necessary modules onto a floppy or two - naturally I have to cope with many
different cards, and while I'm willing to have several different boot
floppies, it'd be a lot more elegant to have just one.

thanks,

jpb
--
Joe Block <jpb@creol.ucf.edu>
CREOL System Administrator

Social graces are the packet headers of everyday life.


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