OT - Partition Magic

Gary,

You might want to consider a NAS solution. Network Attached Storage is an
easy, inexpensive way to add network storage without the expense of server
upgrades. These devices are standalone boxes in a multitude of sizes that
just plug into your network and a power outlet. You can start out with a
single small unit and add others in each department or get one big enough
for the entire enterprise. Setup and configuration are easy and they are
very cost effective. File access and transfer is not blazingly fast, but for
your use they would be very adequate. I've had very good luck with the
Snapserver brand (snapserver.com) but I understand that Maxtor also has a
competing product (as does Sony, I believe). The Snapserver units even come
with software that handles workstation backups.

Steve Polatas

>>>>>>>>>
Date: Mon, 26 Aug 2002 14:44:28 -0400
From: "Gary Polvinale" <garyp@...>
Subject: RE: OT - Partition Magic

<snip>

Management wants the workstations back up with minimal downtime. It usually
takes me a day or two to get the workstatons back online after it dies.


Management wants all data and emails backed up, minimal workstation
downtime, and doesn't want to spend $8-10,000 for a new server with enough
storage to do it efficiently. So I'm trying to do it the cheapest way I
can, and still retain the redundancy and quick recovery time.


Given the money constraints, this is what we came up with. Is there another
way that would better accomplish the same thing?


Gary
Any Partition Magic experts out there? I have several workstations with C
and D, E and F drives. I want to bring them all to only C-drive and D-drive
without removing the data. D-drive will contain the image from Drive Image.
C-drive will contain the My Documents folders (so I can redirect them to a
server. Right now, all their C-drives are only 4G and hold only the
operating system. After, I want to be able to have 2/3 of the room allotted
to C-drive and 1/3 to D-drive. Image will be stored on D-drive, and
everything else (OS, programs and files) will be on C-drive. (If this
doesn't sound like the best arrangement, let me know that too).

So what is the best way of getting from here to there? Any and all opinions
will be appreciated. I know the solution to this is going to be subjective.

Thanks,
Gary Polvinale
Denton ATD



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Gary,

What's the purpose of having the drive image on the D drive as opposed to
the network? Is the drive image acting as a backup, or merely as a quick
means of rebuilding a system to a clean state? How often on average per
workstation do you have to reformat a PC? What are the factors that require
such reformatting if that is the reason for the drive image?

Thaddeus Jacobs
Solutions Developer
Kinmatic Automation, Inc.
mailto:tjacobs@...




-----Original Message-----
From: Gary Polvinale [mailto:garyp@...]
Sent: Saturday, August 24, 2002 7:38 AM
To: Vantage Group
Subject: [Vantage] OT - Partition Magic


Any Partition Magic experts out there? I have several workstations with C
and D, E and F drives. I want to bring them all to only C-drive and D-drive
without removing the data. D-drive will contain the image from Drive Image.
C-drive will contain the My Documents folders (so I can redirect them to a
server. Right now, all their C-drives are only 4G and hold only the
operating system. After, I want to be able to have 2/3 of the room allotted
to C-drive and 1/3 to D-drive. Image will be stored on D-drive, and
everything else (OS, programs and files) will be on C-drive. (If this
doesn't sound like the best arrangement, let me know that too).

So what is the best way of getting from here to there? Any and all opinions
will be appreciated. I know the solution to this is going to be subjective.

Thanks,
Gary Polvinale
Denton ATD



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



Useful links for the Yahoo!Groups Vantage Board are: ( Note: You must have
already linked your email address to a yahoo id to enable access. )
(1) To access the Files Section of our Yahoo!Group for Report Builder and
Crystal Reports and other 'goodies', please goto:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/files/.
(2) To search through old msg's goto:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/messages
(3) To view links to Vendors that provide Vantage services goto:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/links

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Thad,

>>What's the purpose of having the drive image on the D drive as opposed to
the network?

Consultant recommended it this way. I'm not sure how it works over the
network. Can you fill me in on that? Some users have 20-30G of data on
their workstations. We don't have a lot of hard-drive space on the server
and only one hard-drive slot remaining on the server to add another 25G into
the Raid5 array. When the consultant suggested putting the drive images on
individual workstations, it seemed like would mean less server HD space and
less network bandwith usage. Do you see any holes in this idea? Shoot
away... if I missed something I need to hear it before I buy the Drive Image
licenses.


>>Is the drive image acting as a backup, or merely as a quick means of
rebuilding a system to a clean state?

Using it as backup for the workstations. Also redirecting My Documents
folders to a server. Working on redirecting emails to that other server
too. Something happens to hose up windows, the idea is we can get the
workstation back up in a few minutes. If the hard drive becomes unusable,
the email and the user's files will still be on the server, and I can
re-install the basic OS and programs on the workstation.


>>How often on average per workstation do you have to reformat a PC?

Have had to re-do 20 workstations at one point or another in the last year.
We has Win98 on them and the accellerated pace at which we added new
software and configurations to the workstations caused win98 a lot of
problems. Some machines required two or three reinstalls. Now all
workstations are W2K - all very stable.


>>What are the factors that require such reformatting if that is the reason
for the drive image?

Management wants the workstations back up with minimal downtime. It usually
takes me a day or two to get the workstatons back online after it dies.


Management wants all data and emails backed up, minimal workstation
downtime, and doesn't want to spend $8-10,000 for a new server with enough
storage to do it efficiently. So I'm trying to do it the cheapest way I
can, and still retain the redundancy and quick recovery time.


Given the money constraints, this is what we came up with. Is there another
way that would better accomplish the same thing?


Gary



-----Original Message-----
From: Thad Jacobs [mailto:tjacobs@...]
Sent: Monday, August 26, 2002 2:01 PM
To: 'vantage@yahoogroups.com'
Subject: RE: [Vantage] OT - Partition Magic


Gary,

What's the purpose of having the drive image on the D drive as opposed to
the network? Is the drive image acting as a backup, or merely as a quick
means of rebuilding a system to a clean state? How often on average per
workstation do you have to reformat a PC? What are the factors that require
such reformatting if that is the reason for the drive image?

Thaddeus Jacobs
Solutions Developer
Kinmatic Automation, Inc.
mailto:tjacobs@...




-----Original Message-----
From: Gary Polvinale [mailto:garyp@...]
Sent: Saturday, August 24, 2002 7:38 AM
To: Vantage Group
Subject: [Vantage] OT - Partition Magic


Any Partition Magic experts out there? I have several workstations with C
and D, E and F drives. I want to bring them all to only C-drive and D-drive
without removing the data. D-drive will contain the image from Drive Image.
C-drive will contain the My Documents folders (so I can redirect them to a
server. Right now, all their C-drives are only 4G and hold only the
operating system. After, I want to be able to have 2/3 of the room allotted
to C-drive and 1/3 to D-drive. Image will be stored on D-drive, and
everything else (OS, programs and files) will be on C-drive. (If this
doesn't sound like the best arrangement, let me know that too).

So what is the best way of getting from here to there? Any and all opinions
will be appreciated. I know the solution to this is going to be subjective.

Thanks,
Gary Polvinale
Denton ATD



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



Useful links for the Yahoo!Groups Vantage Board are: ( Note: You must have
already linked your email address to a yahoo id to enable access. )
(1) To access the Files Section of our Yahoo!Group for Report Builder and
Crystal Reports and other 'goodies', please goto:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/files/.
(2) To search through old msg's goto:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/messages
(3) To view links to Vendors that provide Vantage services goto:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/links

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/



Useful links for the Yahoo!Groups Vantage Board are: ( Note: You must have
already linked your email address to a yahoo id to enable access. )
(1) To access the Files Section of our Yahoo!Group for Report Builder and
Crystal Reports and other 'goodies', please goto:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/files/.
(2) To search through old msg's goto:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/messages
(3) To view links to Vendors that provide Vantage services goto:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/links

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/