windows server backup and restore it on virtual machine

Question

hello Guys
i have a scenario her. I have two servers server A and server B and both running server 2012r2 version. i have one license for one virtual server for each server. The question is: If Server A goes down (backed up daily) then how can I use backup of this server (server A) and use it on virtual machine or virtual server at server B till my server is back again. it would be easier if i have spare physical server and restore backup there and use temporary but in my case i have only virtual server available at server B.

Answer 1

What roles are involved? The better option is to clean install the virtual machine, patch fully, migrate roles over to it. Another option may be to P2V it but not the best option.
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/disk2vhd

--please don't forget to Accept as answer if the reply is helpful--

Answer 2

Hi,

P2V is viable but seems to time-consuming. Instead of backing up daily, you may need to create a VHD daily if there are changes made to Server A daily. When Server A goes down, VHD can be used on Server B's virtual machine.

Clustered servers might solve your issue but I'm not sure about whether clustering Server A with virtual machine on Server B would be successful. If failover cluster is configured, virtual machine on Server B will automatically takes over Server A's load when Server A is down.
Failover Clustering Overview

----------

If the Answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and upvote it.
Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.

Answer 3

Hi,

As mentioned, it is possible to do a P2V with tools like disk2vhd or StarWind V2V Converter.
https://www.starwindsoftware.com/starwind-v2v-converter

However, it is not a backup. There are different kinds of backup software, which can backup your physical server and then restore to Hyper-V VM. As an example:
https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/agentforwindows/userguide/integration_instant_restore.html?ver=40

Cheers,

Alex Bykovskyi

StarWind Software

Note: Posts are provided “AS IS” without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, including but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability and/or fitness for a particular purpose.