Not being able to provide identical hardware after a disaster case is an
unsolved problem we have, too.
I think we do not need the possibility of merging registry databases or
doing other tricks, as this all may lead to inconsistent system
configurations.
What we really need is a possibility to mark certain settings in the
registry as "changed" or "invalid" in a way that makes Windows NT
install the new components from the CDROM during next bootup.
Providing this in my opinion is not an ADSM developers task, this
feature should come from Microsoft, as it is also needed when single
components have to get changed without the possibility of previously
uninstalling them.

Regards,
Michael
--
Michael H. Bartl
Michael H. Bartl
ADAC e.V. (Rechenzentrum, Produktionsplanung und Organisation)
Tel.: (089) 7676-4063, Fax: (089) 7676-8161
EMail: Michael.Bartl AT Zentrale.ADAC DOT de

> ----------
> Von:  Phil.Chissell[SMTP:phil.chissell AT RESEARCH.NATPOWER.CO DOT UK]
> Gesendet:     Mittwoch, 4. Februar 1998 11:33
> An:   ADSM-L AT VM.MARIST DOT EDU
> Betreff:      Re: BAre Metal Restore on NT V4
>
> I have been following this thread with interest and I have another
> query to throw in the melting pot.
>
> We are currently running ADSM V3 on NT 4.0 servers.  The machines are
> Digital Prioris HX 6000 series.  We have about 20 of this machines all
> provided by the same supplier.  However, we have noticed none of the
> machine's hardware setup are IDENTICAL.  Some have slightly different
> versions of the same network cards, different screen drivers,
> different firmware settings etc. etc.
>
> As I understand it, you would need to provide an identical machine
> before carrying out the bare metal restore of the machine.  My
> question is if we want to fully restore a machine because it's gone up
> in flames, we would find it virtually impossible to get an identical
> machine now, let alone 6-12 months time when a lot of these hardware
> components would have probably become obsolete.
>
> My worry is when we go through the disaster recovery scenario as
> described in the redbook and we come to the point of copying the
> registry hives to the restored NT partition.
>
> The problem is the registry data containing information about the
> hardware components of the machine because how can we be sure the
> machine will come back up if some of the hardware settings are no
> longer valid.
>
> Now, when you rebuild the machine using the temporary partition, you
> would have  a working registry with the correct hardware settings so
> is it possible to "merge" these into the restored NT partition thus
> ensuring you have a working registry for that machine?  If so, this
> would allow you to rebuild one machine on any hardware spec. you like
> so long as the disks setup were the same (i.e. mirrored, RAID 5 etc.).
>
> Has anybody come across this scenario before or has anybody any
> comments?  Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
>
> Sorry this is message is so long...
>
> Regards
>
> Phil
>