Running on Empty – Critical Loss recovery
This is something that is so easy to deploy and do that I just had to shout about it!
Ok so the problem:
Laptop/PC on site, something horrible and sticky spilt all over it….Hardware destroyed (or really any other scenario that results in a useless piece of tin)….
Data is lost, panic stations worried people, dead lines drawing nearer …..WHAT NOW?
My dad always used to say PPPPP …Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Performance, but HOW can you prepare?
The solution: Windows Deployment Server (WDS) is a role that can be enabled on Windows Server 2008. In this role you can upload an image of Vista ** (boot.wim and install.wim on the Vista DVD) into the server. This allows a new piece of hardware, lets take a laptop for example, to be connected to the network (wired) and make sure the laptop boots from the network (PXE). This will then get an IP address and then “see” the vista image which you can install from the server. COOL so you now have an OS (you can even add .xml files into the Deployment to auto configure timezones and other install options. The next part is the data, some people are not aware of folder redirection. This does exactly that directs the “My Documents”, “Start Menu”, and “Desktop” to sync onto the server which keeps copies of the files. This can be set to sync at regular intervals or at certain times. With this feature being used, when the OS is installed, you can resync with your redirected folder…..And there you have it, data is back….. There is even a further few cool things that can be used…..With Sharepoint document libraries, documents can be put in sites and therefore can be pulled back down…..Outlook can pull down the email from the server as well, so you wont even lose your emails!!!
HOW COOL IS THAT!
** one thing to note is that with Vista you only need one image no matter how many types of hardware, it is hardware independent (only 1 image to manage). XP needs one image per each different type of hardware.
