[Sunhelp] Restoring a server remotely

[Steve Pribyl]

I did something like that on HP's.  Each HP server had a HP support tools
cd permently loaded in the drive.  I also had a modem connected to the
remote console on each system.  When a system broke the local guy just
turned the key to support and I could dial into the console.  I think we
did something like this for some NCR servers too.  The important this is
to have a dial up line to the console.  Having boot media is also really
important.

I never had a complete disater but did use this system to fix some minor
problems.  

Steve Pribyl
spribyl at enteract.com
http://www.enteract.com/~spribyl



On Fri, 28 Jul 2000, Tim Conrad wrote:

> Hello;
> The company I work for has around 65 email servers spread across the
> country. Every site that has an email server, has a technician, but they
> are typically VERY weak. (Got a pulse? Know where the power switch is?
> You've got a job!) I'm in the process of using NetBackup to back
> everything up across our WAN. The sites typically have a 128k connection
> back to our central office. Realistically speaking, each server really
> only has one directory to back up, which is the /mailbox directory.
> Pretty much everything else can be reconfigured in a matter of an hour
> or so.
> 
> My question. Does anyone have a simular situation, and what do you do
> for disaster recovery? My current idea is to do something like a
> bootable CD-ROM for the sites that can be booted from, and then we can
> either fix what's wrong or whatever. As a side note, could a cdrom be
> built that is bootable, and has an actual ip address, allowing me to
> remotely access the machine? Are there any commercial products that
> perform this type of task?
> 
> To add another level in there. We can't just ship them a 'new server',
> and do swapping, because of capital asset issues involved with doing so.
> 
> (If it helps any, the servers are either Ultra 2's or Ultra 10's. This
> fall, we'll start installing E250's instead. They all have CD-ROM
> drives, but no floppy drives. We only route IP on our WAN. They all have
> monitors and keyboards attached, except the E250's will not.)
> 
> Any input would be greatly appreciated,
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Tim Conrad
> 
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