Cloning DL360 servers with RAID-1

[Mihails Nikitins]

Hi,

I have one sample DL360 running Linux with two disks in RAID-1. I'd like to duplicate the server to another DL360 using RAID. I imagine it like pulling out one disk from the sample server, inserting it in empty target server and resynchronizing the mirror.

Please provide me step-by-step guidelines how to set up the target server. I should not syncronize with empty disk and should be able make a valid RAID-1 array.

Thanks and points in advance!

BR,
Mihails

[Steven Clementi · Accepted solution]

Mihails:

Doing what you say is one way, probably the fastest way, to clone a machine. Another, and probably more accepted, way would be to ghost the server.


To do this fast...

1. Shut down the source server (you don;t really have to since the drives are hot plug, but to get the cleanest clone possible...)

2. Remove the second drive and place it into the target server. In the same slot that you took it out of from the source server.

3. Power on the target server with the single drive and power on the source server with the single drive. Make sure the target server is not plugged into the network

4. Once the servers pass the POST sequence and are loading up the OS, it is safe to insert the new replacement drives into both servers.

5. Let the drives rebuild

6. Re-Configure the target server as necessary.


Steven

[Mihails Nikitins]

Thank you, looks good to try and evaluate. At the very beginning, is it safe to configure RAID1 on the target server with empty disks?

[Mihails Nikitins]

This works with pre-configured RAID-1 on empty target system. Thank you!

[Steven Clementi]

It does not matter what the target system has. Since the RAID config is stored on the drives, the controller will read the drives that are in the bays and conform to that.

The ony thing you do not want to do is have a second drive in the box when you boot up for the first time. Potentially, the raid controller will read the empty drive first and mirror the empty drive to the source drive, then you have to start over. :o)


Steven

[Kyris]

Mihails,

I have tried Steven's way on Windows NT and it worked all the time. When I tried this on Windows Server 2003, again it worked fine but I had to re-register the OS with Microsoft, so that I get the new 'Key' to allow me to continue using the OS.

kyris

[Oliver16]

Thank you Steven,

12 years later i tried your solution again and i got while booting an UEFI Error at my second DL360Gen9.
Error: "No bootable devices were detected. Please attach a UEFI bootable device..."

Do you know how to fix that UEFI error? Or is that kind of (efficient) cloning past?

We have two equal DL360Gen running ubuntu 16.04, both with 2x300GB SSD, Raid 1 configured and LVM with two drives + swap.
When i put the 2. SSD from the source to the target in port 2 (first is empty) then the system ran into that UEFI error.

Thank you so much!