# sbs 2003 having problem...can i image it for safety?



## PK-her0 (Sep 17, 2007)

hi guys,

my sbs server just shut down this afternoon,and it has a few errors that i need to research in the event viewer. this is also an email server for about 10 users...i am petrified it will crash. 

is it safe to make a image of the drive in case i do something and cause serious problems? (just as precaution) 
i plan to use storage craft and image onto a 1tb drive...

do i have to stop any services for exchange...are there risks with imaging a server...
any info appreciated...

i know that this is usually a sign of worse to come...and want to be prepared...

thanks and regards
PK


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## aasimenator (Dec 21, 2008)

No not necessarily if you imaging software is designed to be worked on Windows Server Editions then it will make use of Volume Shadow Copy and create images.

I Use Acronis to create a Image Backup every day. its better to be prepared!


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## PK-her0 (Sep 17, 2007)

but will that really work...

i mean lets say you take an image in the morning and our server crashes in the afternoon...and you put the image back from the morning... 

wont you...

A) lose the data that was updated from the morning till the afternoon 
B) Wont the server crash again and again...as the problem exists in the first place?

interested


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## aasimenator (Dec 21, 2008)

Yes You will loose the data from afternoon before it crashes. but you won't loose everything.

If you take a backup of a corrupt server then yes it will crash again even when you do a restore.

So what now i'll suggest is do a image backup & try to solve the errors you are facing. once the server gets back on its original state of health you do another backup.


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## digitalsatori (Apr 28, 2010)

I would be hesitant to image a server. Mainly because if you lose a hardware component other than memory or hard drives (such as your motherboard), the image will be useless anyway. Windows does not like having major hardware components changed.

My suggestion would be to include the system state in your standard backup practice. This will include your registry, drivers, etc. to restore your system back to normal after installing a fresh OS. If you have software-based problems, you'll want to do a fresh install after a crash, anyway, or you run the risk of recreating the problems that caused the original crash in the first place.


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## avisitor (Jul 13, 2008)

Go ahead and image it, especially if you think there might be hardware problems with the server.

Even if you need to make a major hardware change, your image will probably still be useful. You might need to repair install to get it to boot after major hardware replacement, but it probably would. If not at least you can pull the data off of it.


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## skinnywhiteboy (Jan 26, 2001)

What is the server being used for?? Is it a Domain Controller, Exchange Server, File Server, etc? How much data are we talking about?


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## PK-her0 (Sep 17, 2007)

its sbs2003 exchange a monster of an accounts package...custom apps...about 300gb of data all in all...

seems ok lately but its only going to get worse ...isnt it?


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## Rockn (Jul 29, 2001)

If you have good reliable backups it will be enough to get it running again. I would never image a server that is online unless the imaging software can pause what is going on and never do it during production hours. I would look in the event logs to find out if there is any indication as to why it shut down.


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