SUMMARY
Port Security Level and Windows Instant Recovery
ISSUE
Purpose
Explain effect of enabling port security when Windows Instant Recovery (WIR) instances are defined.
Description
Enabling any level of port security on the backup device other than “No Security (Open All)” prevents Windows Instant Recovery from working properly. Port security can be set in the backup console under “Settings->Client, Networking, and Notifications->Ports”.
Cause
Windows Instant Recovery (WIR) allows a virtual client to be booted on the backup device and take the place of an actual Windows client when the client fails. To keep the virtual disks and files up to date on the WIR virtual client, the client is booted on the backup device and all backed up files during a master or incremental backup are also copied to the WIR instance after the backup is complete. When the virtual WIR client is booted on the backup device, it gets an IP address from a virtual DHCP server running on the device. The DHCP request that is sent to this virtual server is subject to the level of port security that is set up on the device. Setting port security on the backup device to anything other than “No Security (Open All)” blocks these DHCP requests, which prevents the virtual WIR clients from getting an IP address. Without an IP address, networking is disabled on the client and the restores that need to occur to keep the client’s files up to date are not able to run.
Resolution
Set port security to “No Security (Open All)”.