Using Ignite for DR testing

[Juan Ocasio]

Hey all:

I really new to ignite, so forgive me if I'm a bit green. I will be performing a DR test in a few weeks and was wondering if ignite could help me. In the past, I've done a full system recovery (including Sybase and a custom application)which takes about 8 hours. I was wondering if I could use ignite to perform the restore. If so, are there any manuals available for this? My current system is a test box that I would create an image from (it's a small RP series box). The box I will have at my testing site will probably be a K class box (I beleive a K400). Will this be possible? Also is it possblie to have the Sybase server as well as the custom app restored using the ignite image? Again, I'm really new to this....

Thanks

Juan

[Mauro Gatti]

Hi Juan,
try to see:

http://www.docs.hp.com/en/IUX/index.html

RGDS


Mauro

[Pete Randall]

Juan,

It's very doubtful that you will be able to Ignite a k box from a rp box - the architectures are just too dissimilar.


Pete

[Juan Ocasio]

Thanks for the speedy reply. So if I used an rp to rp, will it work? Even if the two systems are configured differently?

Thanks

Juan

[Devender Khatana]

Hi,

Yes when the architecture of the two systems is same it will work.But if you have some more devices attached to your system to be recovered that you may require to configure these devices after recovery.

HTH,
Devender

[Bill Hassell]

I would definitely not try to use a K-box for the target. The architectures are vastly different, but also the performance would be very poor compare to the rp. As far as identical configs, simple systems are trivial (internal disks, similar tape drives, internal LAN card), but if your local system has high-end disk arrays (and fibre connections, redundant paths), dissimilar tape drives (ie, Ultrium vs AIT or DLT, etc), multiple LAN cards, etc, then you'll need some detailed planning on both ends to make this DR site work.

Note that a "DR test" should be DR rehearsals, held several times until the process actually succeeds. Then rehearse at least twice yearly to make sure the procedures still work. Discovering that you need some additional information or some missing files from a pile of rubble can be the real disaster.

As far as Ignite becoming the entire backup/restore solution, if you have a very small database (a few hundred megs?) all contained on VG00 with no external disks and no special networking, then it will be OK. Otherwise, you need to partition recovery of the bootable VG00 volume group separate from the database. One of the most common mistakes in a DR plan is seriously underestimating the magnitude of the design and tesing phases. You should consider an HP-UX DR specialist to help with the project.

[Juan Ocasio]

Thanks for the reply. This box is actually a test box we have in our office. Our production box is the K box. What we are trying to do is have some sort of 'image' so that we can rapidly get our system up and running. THe only significant thing on the box (either prod or test) is our database, which is 12 Gigs. We do a full backup to tape every night, so I'm not too worried about the loss of this data; every morning the dump is loaded onto the test box. So when we perform our DR test, what we do is configure the file systems, kernel, and then load Sybase onto the the DR testing box, then do a load of our database. I just wanted a way to minimize this process and shorten the amount of time it takes to recover the box.

Thanks,

Juan