Backup of volume C: to SERVER failed: Microsoft.HomeServer.Backup.Protocol.ProtocolException: Client / Server connection lost

The error points to a networking problem.  I researched it a bit and found recommendations to download the WHS Toolkit.  So I downloaded it and ran it.  It told me that my connector software didn’t match my server version.  So I deleted my connector software and re-installed it from the server.  I tried to run a backup again and it failed again at about 70%.  So I ran the troubleshooter again and it again told me that I had a version mismatch.

The interesting thing is that my home server was almost full.  I started the backup and it told me that it only had 139GB left in space.   Then it counted down as the backup continued until it told me that it only had 90GB of space left and then the backup failed again.  I checked the Event Viewer and the error was still the same, some sort of connection loss between the server and the client.  I ran the WHS Toolkit again and it again told me that I had a version mismatch between my client and server.

On a whim I purged 200GB of data from the server, ran the backup again.  It succeeded.  If you run into this problem and your home server is tight on space, I’d suggest offloading some data to an external drive or adding another drive and trying again.  The log output is misleading.  This is not a connection problem, you’re just out of space.

I work fairly flexible hours and while I do travel a little bit most of my time is spent working at home or at the office.  Also, the datacenters I support are not located in Kansas City.  I bring that up so that other geeks out there understand why I’m not toting around a bunch of tools that are uniquely suited to datacenter work.  I’m familiar with most of them, but since I can’t get them through flight security and don’t need them locally, I don’t pack them.

The Basics

1. My corporate issued laptop w/ power brick
2. Sprint Aircard
3. 9′ cat5
4. My CD Rescue Kit
5. Toothbrush and toothpaste
6. Phone Charger
7. Legal Pad and Pen (I take notes better with hard copy)
8. Spare Business Cards(around 25)
9. O’Reilly RegEx Pocket Reference that Ironport gave me at training
10. Spare charger for my bluetooth headset
11. 8 tablets of benadryl and benadryl cream(I’m horribly allergic to poison ivy)
12. Bug Repellent
13. Kleenex
14. Microfiber cloth
15. Laptop lock
16. Travel Mouse (tiny w/ retractable cable)

The Extraneous That I Still Find Useful

1. My personal laptop w/ power brick
2. wifi PCMCIA card(because my personal laptop is old and it’s not built in)
3. Spare set of headphones
4. Charge cable for my ipod
5. DIY Altoids Survival Tin

There are a few things that others will wonder about.  Like where’s your Leatherman or Leatherman alternative?  Where’s your ipod?  And what about your phone?  Flashlight?  Earplugs?  Emergency Cash?  These items are usually in my cargo pockets or strapped to my belt.

As a part of me completing my coursework for my BA I took a class in Sociology on Marriage and Family taught by Professor Julia Spence, MA, at Johnson County Community College.  I was startled to find that I really enjoyed the class thoroughly and it taught me many things about how families in America work today that defy the images depicted on TV.  Frankly it made me feel better that maybe my family was a bit more normal than I had ever believed.  My final paper for the class was on how poverty is different in rural communities versus the urban images frequently used.  My professor enjoyed the paper sufficiently that she has placed it in the Johnson County Community College Writing Center so that future students can use it as a model for what is expected to receive an A grade.  I am very thankful for the recognition and am looking forward to working with her further on my future endeavors in Kansas City.

My small business is progressing as I’ve also recently attending some courses explaining the benefits of LLCs and informing me of the accounting requirements for a small business.  I plan on establishing my first LLC and making my second house habitable in the next few months.  So life is progressing, but not at the pace I expected.

I hope you are all doing well!  The snow is melting here in Kansas City and the flowers will be shortly blooming.  Everyone is smiling and just glad me made it through another winter in the Midwest!

It goes without saying that you don’t want some propietary commit info to be sent in notification emails so if a developer requests this sort of set up ask a few questions about what data will be needed.  Also, add yourself to the notification list for a little while to see how the developers are using the tool.

Also, this is usually a beginner level issue, be sure that your box is configured to relay mail out.  A simple test message like below should get you an email in your inbox(check junk and spam filters).

Enter this as one line:

echo "test body" | mailx -s "test subject" blah@domain.com,distrolist@domain.com

Anyhow, the Unified Government has decided that they would like to set up a Tree Board and Angela Schreffler, the coordinator at HTA, recommended me to sit on the board.

The Tree Board meets monthly and works on the issues that trees present in Wyandotte County and Kansas City, KS.  So far we’ve been talking about trying to get the city certified as a Tree City USA by The Arbor Day Foundation, activities to run on Earth Day, codifying which trees should and shouldn’t be planted on public property and we’re also working on getting a tree inventory executed.  It’s a two year appointment that is renewable and so far it’s been a really enjoyable experience.  Frankly, I’m really proud that the local government has taken such a serious step to control climate change, alleviate the heat island effect of cities and just generally make Kansas City a great place to live when we have such challenging financial issues.

Treekeepers 2009 Schedule(PDF)

Thanks!

I used to carry a sort of emergency kit of digital media. It started out with a few linux disks and one Windows 98 SE disk and eventually progressed to a fairly well thought out array of support tools. Unfortunately I haven’t traveled for a while and I forgot just how important such things were. Until my trip to Boston last week when my Dell system’s hard drive encrypting by WinMagic locked up for no particularly good reason. It just took my username and password and spit out an error 0×00007212 and told me to call Win Magic. I’m supposed to get support today for the problem and I’ll let you know how that turns out.

In the meanwhile I thought I’d list out what I’ve put in my new rescue kit. It’s a miscellany of operating systems and media types. Basically, if I can carry it on a CD, I do. Why? Because many people don’t have DVD drives in their laptops, so the older standard is more useful for rescue utilities.

1. Solaris x86 install disc. I currently support Sun systems and it’s always useful to be able to boot into the mini-root.
2. Solaris sparc install disc. Same problem, different chip architecture. There may be a dual boot disc, but for now I have two discs to solve the problem.
3. knoppix bootable CD. I’ve used knoppix in the past to fix things that were somewhat Windows problems but linux was an easier way to fix them.
4. Ubuntu desktop 32-bit install CD.  I love Ubuntu, but I have the same criticism here that I have of Solaris.  This disc can help me install or run a liveCD of Ubuntu for my laptop, but if my co-worker has a 64 bit processor, I can’t help him.  Anyhow, for those new to Ubuntu, it’s probably the best attempt at an XP like desktop.  Not much changes (except behind the scenes) so you don’t have to keep learning how to use it every time you upgrade.
5. BartPE.  It’s a bootable Windows environment.  Good for repairing XP.
6. Darik’s Boot and Nuke.  This is a disk wiper utility.  If for some reason you need to ship a disk this utility will help destroy the information on it in a way that makes forensics much more difficult.
7. Gparted and Clonezilla.  GpartEd is a partition editor similar to an old utility called DiskMagic.  If you need to resize your partitions, this is the best way to do it.  Of course, you should run backups first, but if you’re on the road you may have to take a few chances.  Clonezilla is used to make disk images.  It’s good if you need to be able to quickly restore the same system back to exactly the same state quickly.  It’s also good for propagating a disk image to a lot of similar systems.
8. Puppy Linux.  This is THE THING I WOULD HAVE PAID $100 FOR LAST WEEK!  Puppy linux is so lightweight you can run it off of a USB stick, but you need the disk to create the USB stick(or just carry a USB stick of it).  It’s ultra easy to use, so much so that many call it linux for grandmas.
9. XP Install media.  It’s old school, but I still try to keep it around if I can.
10. l0phtcrack.  This is used to get Windows passwords off of systems.  Some consider it a hacker tool.  I consider it a rescue executive tool because I’ve been expected in the past to magically make things work without access to their systems.  I’ve also used it to refine system building techniques so that I never write a good password to the filesystem in a way that l0phtcrack can crack it.  It appears that this product may not be available any more.  I’ll try to see if I can find something new.
11. Miscellaneous.  Customize this area to tools that you need but will be hard to acquire remotely.  I include my corporate VPN software for multiple OSs and Truecrypt(although fairly available, I prefer to not have to md5sum it every time I DL it.)
12. Some blank CDs and DVDs.  Useful if you need to DL and use new tools for some things.
13. Entertainment discs.  Entertainment makes me work better, so I always pack some.  Usually 2 DVDs full of movies ripped to AVI, 1 nonverbal music disk(trance/monks chanting/enya), 1 normal music disk and 1 disk of books on CD.

Please let me know if I forgot something or if you don’t concur.  Now I need to run to work.

Photo courtesy of PSD