Restoring server backup to new UEFI hardware

[pcdoc 114]

No, seems to be all or nothing.

 

 

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[ikon 439]

Could this just be a GPT issue. pcdoc, do I recall correctly you saying that WHS2011 doesn't support boot from GPT, or was that just v1?

[pcdoc 114]

Even if you hardware supports GPT boot, WHS as far as I know will not backup/restore the server, it will backup data partitions, and it will restore data on partition. It just does not like the bare metal restore on anything.

[hopester 1]

Good suggestion. Oddly enough I cannot find such an option in my Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H BIOS menu -- to boot from a UEFI USB Key or non-UEFI USB Key. I did look for that originally but despite it being a very new motherboard, this option wasn't apparent.

 

It will be there somewhere as a quick look in the gigabyte manual states " Or if you want to install an operating system that supports GPT partitioning such as Windows 7 64-bit, select the optical drive that contains the Windows 7 64-bit installation disk and is prefixed with "UEFI:" string."

 

I made the mistake when installing whs2011 and picked UEFI:usb from the boot menu and ended up with a gpt partition boot disk. So I tried again with the usb option and got the standard MBR.

[Poppapete 104]

WHS does not support UEFI at all. We had discussed this in the very early podcasts when UEFI first came out. New versions of Acronis with power pack will support it, however it is best practice not to use EFI on a boot disk if you want bare metal restore.

 

Does this mean if I want to be able to do bare metal restores I wil not be able to use UEFI in my brand new ASUS MB. I have to choose being able to do one or the other?

[Drashna Jaelre 159]

Yup.

One or the other.

Or use another backup product.

[pcdoc 114]

Does this mean if I want to be able to do bare metal restores I wil not be able to use UEFI in my brand new ASUS MB. I have to choose being able to do one or the other?

 

Remember that UEFI only buys you the ability to boot to a larger drives so you are not really loosing anything. Just because your motherboard has it does not mean it has value on your server. There is no speed loss or other side effects. As drashna stated you could use another backup program such as Acronis but unless you have the burning desire to have a 3T boot drive, it not worth the trouble or the risk as you really want a small boot drive for a WHS.

[Jason 84]

In my Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H bios it's not apparent when UEFI is being used or not.

[ikon 439]

I think I need some clarification here too. Is it really UEFI that's the bare metal restore issue, or is it GPT? I have an Asus mobo with UEFI and I have done bare metal restores to it, but NOT to a GPT drive, only to MBR.

 

So is that the real issue: UEFI provides the ability to boot from GPT drives but WHS can't restore to them; if you stick to MBR drives you're OK?

[pcdoc 114]

The short answer is that it is the GPT that is an issue. That said, the UEFI acts just like a BIOS if it booting from MBR effectively rendering it useless. The restore program reads the partition not your BIOS. Good point/question.