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Best setup for dual Snapshots
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This is a discussion on Best setup for dual Snapshots within the RollBack Rx forums, part of the Disaster Recovery Programs category; Hello, I am looking for feedback to a process I would like to set up. I have a training environment ...
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10-07-2010, 03:03 PM
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Best setup for dual Snapshots
Hello,
I am looking for feedback to a process I would like to set up. I have a training environment where I would install Rollback Dr. On 25 training computers (Dell e6510) My company is in translation of moving to a new point of sale (POS) application and I need to set up these 25 computers to support the old POS and the new POS. The students will work on the computers throughout the week and then take a final exam with the systems. Aft the exam, i will need to rollback the computers each week. Both POS Programs cannot exist on the same system, however I need to set up the second POS the fist POS must be installed to migrate ov the training data. My thought is this, install the first POS and get the program to the state I want. Take a snapshot with Rollback Install the new POS and my training database will be migrated over. Also the second POS will disable via registry edits the first POS. Setup the second POS and environment the way I want Take the new POS snapshot. Then I can swap back and forth between the two snapshots Thoughts? 
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10-08-2010, 11:29 AM
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Am I right in thinking that, once you have the two setups stored as snapshots, there will be no further changes to those two and you don't need to have any further data interaction between the two?
If that's the case then what you propose should work very well in the way you suggest using RollBack. At the risk of being thrown off the forum though, my first thought was that you could save yourself quite a lot of money and achieve pretty much the same by simply making two images of the system and restoring those as required. RollBack is very easy to swap between snapshots but if you are only needing to swap the PC's between two states then you could set up a boot DVD which would restore one or other of the images. The restore would be slower that way but it depends on the size of the system as to how much difference it would make. Graham (....now looking for a new forum to frequent  )
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10-08-2010, 08:06 PM
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Graham, your suggestion of taking an image of both setups and then restoring each image as required seems like a very combersome way of going about what rlcohen70 wants. With Rollback, he would be able to swap between both setups via a simple reboot. No massive drive reimaging required every time. While it's true he could save some money, I believe the time saved and convenience of Rollback will far outway the initial cost outlay IMHO.
 Rlcohen70, the setup you described will work exactly as you described. Good luck
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10-08-2010, 08:26 PM
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Sounds good
I am trying to avoid the DVD restore process. There will be a number of non technical people that will be doing the rollbacks and it seems easier to use Rollback.
I will from time to time have to update these units and their images. I may also have to replace a hard drive or two. As I understand it from a previous forum, if I have the appropriate licenses' I can use Acronis True Image and do a sector by sector copy to make a hard drive that could be used if it does fail. I am remote to the training facility.. So this would help. I have not delve much into the remote rollback. I will have to look at that.. Any other suggestions?
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10-09-2010, 03:25 AM
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Ricohen70 asked for thoughts.....I provided my thoughts
. I have no idea if $1,000 is worthy of consideration in the greater scheme of things but I thought it worth mentioning. What I would strongly reject (with all due respect, carfal ) is the idea that restoring images is 'very cumbersome'. It doesn't even need to involve DVD's if that is preferable. Thinking about the target user, in some ways it can be an easier concept to say "Insert disc labelled 'A' and reboot" as opposed to "Press 'Home' key while RollBack menu is on-screen, select 'Restore' option, select snapshot 'A' and confirm action".Now I appreciate that it will take longer for the image restore to take place but it is an operation which seems to only need to be done once a week, on a basic system should take less than 10 minutes and can be set up as a 'turn-key' system with updates being distributed on DVD if required. A different approach would be to use two partitions and a boot loader of some description. So you create images of the two setups and restore each to separate partitions (once only ). You then use a boot manager front end to select one or the other on loading. I've used GAG in the past which is free, very configurable and works well but there are many similar products out there.If you do go the RollBack route (and I did point out in my first post that it would do what you want very well!) then you should also remember that imaging will also be an issue to take into account. Say you set up your system with two snapshots and you want to distribute that across your 25 PC's (I don't know how the licensing works with RB an multiple installs but guess that there is some way of doing it without it being tied to the physical hard drive). You are now going to make a sector-by-sector image to be able to include both required snapshots. This will most likely be too large for DVD and would be more convenient on a usb drive anyway. You then need to boot each PC into the Acronis recovery environment to restore the image. If you make the smallest of changes you are going to be involved in sector images over 25 PC's. This may not be a problem but if you are remote from the systems then it may be something to consider. That's enough thoughts from me, I hope you find something that works well for you .Graham
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10-09-2010, 06:06 PM
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Hmmmm.....Graham, you make an excellent argument and tough to counter.
I can see that you have put some deep thought into this which i'm certain rlcohen70 will benefit from (as well as me  ).Rlcohen70 mentions the RMC (Remote Management Console). I've never used this myself but from what i've read he'll be able to remotely do the general maintenance and Rollbacks himself with little or no user intervention which i think is what he is really after. Both methods have merit and i guess we have given rlcohen70 some good information for him to decide. Good Luck rlcohen70
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10-10-2010, 07:34 AM
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I believe that you both bring up some valid points and I thank you for the time. Graham, given that time and ease of use is more of the concern than a multi DVD disc process, I do have the budget to purchase the licensing for the Rollback copies required.
But you do bring up a good solution for a problem I had thought about. This leads me to my next question.. If I go the way of a multi-boot process, could have I have a rollback option for each OS operating.. One will be Win 7 and one will be Win XP SP3. I like the idea of the Dual Boot because I think it will help keep the snapshots in better order for a non computer literate person that will be rolling back the systems on a regular basis. To expand: 25 laptops - preferably running Win XPSP3 with the old Point of sale (POS) and the same laptops with Win 7 new POS. With Grahams idea of the dual boot, i like it...
Is there anything else I am missing or should be aware of. I am looking to lay this out in detail and then tackle processing/testing it. Thanks, Rod
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10-10-2010, 04:26 PM
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Quote:
) that restoring from an image does not have to involve one or more DVD's. It doesn't have to involve DVD's at all as the image can be stored on a separate partition on the drive or even on the network. But moving on... Quote:
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I'm guessing that you are looking to restore to 'clean down' each system on a weekly (or thereabouts) basis. You might also want to take a look at Drive Vaccine from the very nice people at Horizon which may also tick the boxes for what you want to do. It would certainly be a good idea to set up a couple of machines to see how it works in reality. Graham
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10-10-2010, 09:47 PM
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rlcohen70, Graham did an excellent job at answering your questions and has saved me alot of typing.
The only thing to confirm is the dual boot scenario. Graham is right. The snapshots are system wide and not OS independent.
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10-11-2010, 07:14 AM
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OK,
just to check for understanding. It does not matter if I have two OS in the system, Rollback is system wide or should I say the complete hard drive? To further delineate, Dual boot Win XP SP3 Win 7 32bit Rollback Dr. ( i need multiple snapshots so I have to use Rollback Dr versus Drive Vaccine) If I restore, I restore the snapshot for both systems.. That is how I understand it. Sounds like the only advantage of having the dual boot is that I can operate inside of each OS as needed. My last question and I do appreciate the time, this sames me days of testing... Is that If I image Sector by Sector and Acronis does offer a complete HD image, I can run newsid to issue a new system ID, but what about registering a new License. I have a vol license program for Win XP but not Win 7. those will be using the independent licenses from each of the units.. Thank you both again for your time...
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