How do you..

Admiral Huddy · 10-08-2007, 09:24

schedule a PC to come on at a certain time.

I need to schedule Arconis to backup data between two machines. Although Arconis has the ability to wake up the local PC it can't (as far as I'm aware) start the remote networked PC and visa versa. The timing of the power up on both PCs need to identical but this is unlikely. I'm not sure theat the Arcnis backup will retry a certain amount of time before giving up.

Any help would be appreciated.

Daz · 10-08-2007, 09:26

You can normally specify a switch on time in the BIOS, though it would happen every day unless they've improved that feature somewhat.

Your best bet would be wake on LAN if the remote machine supports it. If Acronis has an option to run a script/command before backup, then you could stick something there, or if not you could make a scheduled task to run at boot time, though obviously every time you started that machine, the other one would fire.

Davey_Pitch · 10-08-2007, 09:35

Could you put both machines into standby, then have scheduler wake them up to perform the backup?

Admiral Huddy · 10-08-2007, 09:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by Davey_Pitch

Could you put both machines into standby, then have scheduler wake them up to perform the backup?

can this be done easily enough?

Daz · 10-08-2007, 09:50

Yep. Although I've never had the need to try it.

Admiral Huddy · 10-08-2007, 10:06

Cheers Daz,

I'm not sure this is going to help because I have to run the schedule specfied in Arcnonis. Besides Arconis has the facility to wake the PC anyway but the problem here is timing. If one PC boots before the other and one attempts to send before the other has fnished booting then i'm not sure if Arconis will wait for a specific amount of time or attempts before it gives up.

Mark · 10-08-2007, 10:15

Synchronise clocks with a reliable time source (windows XP has that feature built-in), and set one to wake a minute (or two) before the other. Easy.

Admiral Huddy · 10-08-2007, 10:18

I'll have to give it a test.

Desmo · 10-08-2007, 10:59

I'd get the second machine on 5 minutes before the backup starts. Shouldn't be any problems with timing then. Either just set some task to wake the machine or just use the BIOS power on settings, although as Daz says, these can be quite limited.

Daz · 10-08-2007, 11:04

I'd be looking to do it all from the one machine. Create a scheduled task that wakes the source machine up, that task runs a script which wakes the target up, waits a few minutes, calls Acronis, waits for it to finish, and then shuts down both machines. Shouldn't be that hard to do, so long as the computers have reasonably up to date BIOS's and support all the necessary ACPI gumph.

10-08-2007, 09:24	#1
Admiral Huddy HOMO-Sapien Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Chelmsford Posts: 6,692	How do you.. schedule a PC to come on at a certain time. I need to schedule Arconis to backup data between two machines. Although Arconis has the ability to wake up the local PC it can't (as far as I'm aware) start the remote networked PC and visa versa. The timing of the power up on both PCs need to identical but this is unlikely. I'm not sure theat the Arcnis backup will retry a certain amount of time before giving up. Any help would be appreciated. __________________ I just got lost in thought.. It was very unfamiliar territory. Techie Talk \| My gaming Blog \| PC spec \| The Admirals log

10-08-2007, 09:26	#2
Daz The Stig Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Swad! Posts: 10,713	You can normally specify a switch on time in the BIOS, though it would happen every day unless they've improved that feature somewhat. Your best bet would be wake on LAN if the remote machine supports it. If Acronis has an option to run a script/command before backup, then you could stick something there, or if not you could make a scheduled task to run at boot time, though obviously every time you started that machine, the other one would fire. __________________ apt-get moo

10-08-2007, 09:35	#3
Davey_Pitch I iz speshul Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Liverpool Posts: 6,296	Could you put both machines into standby, then have scheduler wake them up to perform the backup? __________________ Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine as children do. It's not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own lights shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

10-08-2007, 09:50	#5
Daz The Stig Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Swad! Posts: 10,713	Yep. Although I've never had the need to try it. __________________ apt-get moo

10-08-2007, 10:06	#6
Admiral Huddy HOMO-Sapien Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Chelmsford Posts: 6,692	Cheers Daz, I'm not sure this is going to help because I have to run the schedule specfied in Arcnonis. Besides Arconis has the facility to wake the PC anyway but the problem here is timing. If one PC boots before the other and one attempts to send before the other has fnished booting then i'm not sure if Arconis will wait for a specific amount of time or attempts before it gives up. __________________ I just got lost in thought.. It was very unfamiliar territory. Techie Talk \| My gaming Blog \| PC spec \| The Admirals log

10-08-2007, 10:15	#7
Mark Screaming Orgasm Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Newbury Posts: 15,194	Synchronise clocks with a reliable time source (windows XP has that feature built-in), and set one to wake a minute (or two) before the other. Easy.

10-08-2007, 10:18	#8
Admiral Huddy HOMO-Sapien Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Chelmsford Posts: 6,692	I'll have to give it a test. __________________ I just got lost in thought.. It was very unfamiliar territory. Techie Talk \| My gaming Blog \| PC spec \| The Admirals log

10-08-2007, 10:59	#9
Desmo The Last Airbender Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Pigmopad Posts: 11,915	I'd get the second machine on 5 minutes before the backup starts. Shouldn't be any problems with timing then. Either just set some task to wake the machine or just use the BIOS power on settings, although as Daz says, these can be quite limited. __________________

10-08-2007, 11:04	#10
Daz The Stig Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Swad! Posts: 10,713	I'd be looking to do it all from the one machine. Create a scheduled task that wakes the source machine up, that task runs a script which wakes the target up, waits a few minutes, calls Acronis, waits for it to finish, and then shuts down both machines. Shouldn't be that hard to do, so long as the computers have reasonably up to date BIOS's and support all the necessary ACPI gumph. __________________ apt-get moo

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