HP-UX OS Recovery

[Ross McLain]

I am in search of a simple DR option for my HP-UX box.
So far, all of my searching points to IgniteUX. In every solution I've found, the suggestion is to make a backup ignite tape, or backup to an ignite server or both. I only have one rp5470 HP-UX 11.11 box and it doesn't have a tape drive.
My other thought was to use MirrorDisk/UX to make a copy of the boot disk to the internal hot spare, break the mirror, replace the hot spare with a cold spare, and re-establish the mirror. At that point, I would have 3 copies of the boot disk; live, hot spare, and a cold spare that is moved off-site.
I had previously purchased MirrorDisk/UX for 11.0. I can't seem to find any install media, nor any email record of the purchase. Is it worth the effort to acquire a new copy of MirrorDisk or should I be using Ignite?
Any input on these or other DR options is appreciated.

[Patrick Wallek]

You should really be using both.

Your boot disk should definitely be mirrored. That way you can survive a root disk failure.

You should also be using Ignite/UX to create backups of VG00. That would allow you to recover in case of a server melt down.

With only 1 server, you really should purchase a tape drive of sort. This would allow for easy Ignite/UX (make_tape_recovery) backups.

Also, without a tape drive how are you backing up your data on the server? You ARE backing it up, right???

[Ross McLain]

Thank-you for your prompt response Patrick.

Do you know if the 11.0 version of MirrorDisk will work with 11.11?
If so, is there a way to request or download new media?
Would the mirrored disks (for DR) need to be a matched pair?
I will look into purchasing a tape drive.

BTW, all data is stored on external SAN and backed-up with D2D appliance.

[James R. Ferguson]

Hi Ross:

I agree with Patrick. Purchase a tape drive for making Ignite recovery tapes. If necessary, purchase MirrorDisk/UX too.

Ask yourself and your management how long they could survive if the server were down. With MirrorDisk/UX and a fully mirrored vg00, the time to reboot would bring you operational. With a current Ignite tape of vg00, the time to rebuild your server might be just an hour or two. With neither mirrored logical volumes in vg00 nor an Ignite tape, you could be a very long time away from a fully viable configuration, *patched* to your requirements.

Regards!

...JRF...

[James R. Ferguson · Accepted solution]

Hi (again) ROss:

> Do you know if the 11.0 version of MirrorDisk will work with 11.11?

No, you need to use the 11.11 version.

> If so, is there a way to request or download new media?

http://h20392.www2.hp.com/portal/swdepot/displayProductInfo.do?productNumber=B2491BA

You can also contact HP licensing, if you believe that you may have purchased an 11.11 license:

http://licensing.hp.com/site=ITRC?LANGUAGE_OPTION=english

> Would the mirrored disks (for DR) need to be a matched pair?

Since mirroring is done at the logical volume level, the answer is that you simply need enough space to hold all of the logical volumes of vg00. An equally large or larger physical disk is desirable. You must mirror the first three logical volumes in order and you should mirror *all* of them for high-availabilty. Don't be fooled into thinking that you don't need to mirror your primary swap. You need that too, to boot.

Regards!

...JRF...

[Dennis Handly]

>Do you know if the 11.00 version of MirrorDisk will work with 11.11? If so, is there a way to request or download new media?

Most likely not.
Only if you purchased a support contract with the product.

[Ross McLain]

Thanks everyone for your help. I will take the necessary steps to implement both solutions.