AD Backup

[Guest]

I have 2 DC's (win2003) one of my servers has 2 (250GB) hard drives in that
is not mirrored. As I had a close call the other day I need a backup solution
that will allow me to restore my C:\ partition (with AD and DNS on) reliably
(about 10GB). I have Ghost 8 and of course NT backup etc.. any ideas?

Also with 2 DC's what happens if one DC dies and goes offline and the AD
changes before the old server gets fixed, will the network know which version
of the AD is correct when the fixed server gets put back on the network?

 

[Guest]

Hello,

I have 2 DC's (win2003) one of my servers has 2 (250GB) hard drives in that
is not mirrored. As I had a close call the other day I need a backup solution
that will allow me to restore my C:\ partition (with AD and DNS on) reliably
(about 10GB). I have Ghost 8 and of course NT backup etc.. any ideas?

Imaging (Ghost) is not a supported Backup Method for transactional Databases
(AD, Exchange etc.). Backup your AD and DNS (SYSTEM STATE) with NTBACKUP:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/240363/en-us

To Backup your C:\ partition, i prefered ASR (Automated System Recovery)
http://technet2.microsoft.com/Windo...cc90-4b52-b6ab-064f9db8d2721033.mspx?mfr=true

Also with 2 DC's what happens if one DC dies and goes offline and the AD
changes before the old server gets fixed, will the network know which version
of the AD is correct when the fixed server gets put back on the network?

When the DC goes offline who have the FSMO - Roles, then you must be "seize"
the FSMO Roles to the other DC and activate in "Sites and Services" the
Global Catalog. In Windows 2003 the replication about AD-change is after 15
seconds (In the Forest function Level Windows Server 2003).

 

[Dominik Zurek]

Hi,

there is a new tool on Windows 2003 called ASR ( Automated System
Recovery ), which should cover your needs with regard to the C:\ partition.
ASR is designed for use with the NTbackup. The problem is, that this tool
depends on the FDD, which is prepared during ASR procedure and sometimes FDD
can fail ( instead of FDD you can use RIS server but it's a little bit
more complicated )
An additional option for you , as you have Ghost, is a regular backup of the
"System state" with NTbackup and an "image" of the C:\ partition with Ghost.

As for the AD restoration. Yes, DCs are awere of the AD version uless you
restore the AD in so called "authoritative mode". In that case you make
other DCs to belive that the restored version of the AD is the only right
one.

Please remeber about server roles in AD. If the failed server was eg. GC (
global catalog) you have to move this role to the remaining DC.

Regards
Dominik Zurek