question about NTBackup

[chrism]

I'm not sure exactly what is meant by this statement from Microsoft:

"Because NTBackup only supports local backups of Active Directory, you must
perform a backup on
every domain controller in the enterprise to entirely backup Active
Directory.
(Active Directory cannot be backed up on a remote computer.) This is a
limitation of the
Windows 2000 Backup Tool; many third-party backup programs remotely back up
and restore
Active Directory."

Does this mean that I have to back up the System State on each domain
controller individually by using its
own individual version of NTBackup ?

Also, by saying "NTBackup only supports *local* backups of AD", does this
mean that I can only back up
the system state on that domain controller to its local drive ?

Thanks

chrism

 

[Simon Geary]

Yes to the first question. Using ntbackup, you can only back up the system
state of a DC using its local copy of ntbackup. If you have two DC's, DC1
and DC2, you must use ntbackup on DC1 to back up system state on DC1 and
ntbackup on DC2 to back up system state on DC2. You can't use ntbackup on
DC1 to back up the system state of both DC1 and DC2.

No to question 2. When you run a backup using ntbackup you can specify a
local or a network drive for the backup location, but you shouldn't need to
do this. In reality, you will probably want to script the backup as a
scheduled task that save the .bkf file to a local drive and then uses a copy
command to move it off to a network location for backup redundancy.

As the article implies, 3rd party products (e.g. Veritas Backup Exec) do a
much better job at centralising backups but come at a price.

 

[David Doumani]

I use the following .cmd file to grab my system states daily... Just past
this into a .cmd file and call it as follows... You will need psexec. The
%1 is for the date (or any other code you want to use).... example..

C:\>nameofscript.cmd 20040709

<cut here>
psexec \\nemaster01 ntbackup backup systemstate /j "SystemState For
nemaster01" /f "\\nehome01\d$\backups\adsystemstate\nemaster01_%1.bkf"
psexec \\nemaster02 ntbackup backup systemstate /j "SystemState For
nemaster02" /f "\\nehome01\d$\backups\adsystemstate\nemaster02_%1.bkf"
psexec \\nemaster04 ntbackup backup systemstate /j "SystemState For
nemaster04" /f "\\nehome01\d$\backups\adsystemstate\nemaster04_%1.bkf"
psexec \\nemaster05 ntbackup backup systemstate /j "SystemState For
nemaster05" /f "\\nehome01\d$\backups\adsystemstate\nemaster05_%1.bkf"
psexec \\nxmaster01 ntbackup backup systemstate /j "SystemState For
nxmaster01" /f "\\nehome01\d$\backups\adsystemstate\nxmaster01_%1.bkf"
<cut here>

You'll have to edit the server names and the destination location.... works
well to consolidate your systemstates to a central location.

 

[Jerold Schulman]

I'm not sure exactly what is meant by this statement from Microsoft:

"Because NTBackup only supports local backups of Active Directory, you must
perform a backup on
every domain controller in the enterprise to entirely backup Active
Directory.
(Active Directory cannot be backed up on a remote computer.) This is a
limitation of the
Windows 2000 Backup Tool; many third-party backup programs remotely back up
and restore
Active Directory."

Does this mean that I have to back up the System State on each domain
controller individually by using its
own individual version of NTBackup ?

Yes

I would back it up to a file and then backup the file with NTBackup.

Also, by saying "NTBackup only supports *local* backups of AD", does this
mean that I can only back up
the system state on that domain controller to its local drive ?

No. You could back it up to a local tape or to a file over the network.

Thanks

chrism

Jerold Schulman
Windows: General MVP
JSI, Inc.
http://www.jsiinc.com

 

[Enkidu]

Yes

I would back it up to a file and then backup the file with NTBackup.

No. You could back it up to a local tape or to a file over the network.

Just a couple of comments.

Firstly, to the OP, I don't see much point in backing up System State
by itself. If you are going to back it up, why not back up the whole
lot? Maybe that is what you are doing.

Secondly, to the OP, backing up over the network works fine but as
Jerold says there is no way, using NT Backup to back up System State
using NTBackup over the network. Other products do do this (eg Veritas
BE), by running an agent on the remote machines.

Thirdly, to the OP, consider the implication to the network of backing
up to a network file, or backing up to a local file and then backing
up the backup file over the network. That's exactly what I do for some
of my machines, and it works fine. However if you have to backup more
than a couple of machines, you will probably need to stagger schedule
the backup to avoid swamping the network. Two one hour backups running
together might take three hours if you are unlucky enough to have a
congested network.

Cheers,

Cliff

 

[Alexander Suhovey]

Hi Enkidu,
Few comments:

Firstly, to the OP, I don't see much point in backing up System State
by itself. If you are going to back it up, why not back up the whole
lot? Maybe that is what you are doing.

Can't say I understood this. If the task is to backup AD then you backup a
System State which includes AD. Why (and what is) a whole lot?

the backup to avoid swamping the network. Two one hour backups running
together might take three hours if you are unlucky enough to have a
congested network.

Why should a network be congested when backup takes place (probably off-peak
period)? Even if it is not off-peak then what is this a network which can be
congested by copying two files over it at the same time...

I feel that your intention was to show that ntbackup is a basic backup
solution which does not comply most of enterprise needs. First I will agree.
But not second. NTBackup is like a screwdriver. A simple thing, yes. Yet a
useful enough to do it's job.

Regards,
Al.

 

[Enkidu]

Hi Enkidu,
Few comments:


Can't say I understood this. If the task is to backup AD then you backup a
System State which includes AD. Why (and what is) a whole lot?

The point is that the DC is presumably doing something else as well,
apart from running AD. The discussion is around backing up System
State alone. If you have a DC that is *only* doing AD, then on
failure, it would probably be easier to re-install from scratch and
let AD replication take care of bringing it up to date with any AD
changes. If it is doing something else as well then backing up only
the System State will miss out the other stuff.

Why should a network be congested when backup takes place (probably off-peak
period)? Even if it is not off-peak then what is this a network which can be
congested by copying two files over it at the same time...

I feel that your intention was to show that ntbackup is a basic backup
solution which does not comply most of enterprise needs. First I will agree.
But not second. NTBackup is like a screwdriver. A simple thing, yes. Yet a
useful enough to do it's job.

Not at all. I use NTBackup and another product. It's horses for
courses and NTBackup is sufficient for many uses. I'd not rely on it
over a network however. Except possible for one off backups.

Cheers,

Cliff

 

[chrism]

thanks for the knowledge.

By backing up the whole lot, do you mean all of the drives/partitions on the
domain controller or just the winnt directory, etc ?
I am a bit confused by this. Microsoft says to backup the System State and
the "system volume" to ensure a complete backup of Active Directory.

I am not exactly sure what is meant by the 'system' drive.
Is it the parition that contains the boot files (if so, I thought the system
boot files were already
backed up when you do a backup of the System State.)
Or is it the volume that contains the Windows operating system ?

I am not sure what to backup in this regards, because doing one of the
volumes would increase the backup
by gigabytes for sure, no ?

Thanks again !

chrism

 

[Enkidu]

Sorry Chris, I've confused things more than clarified them by the
sounds of it. *If* all you want to do is backup AD, then backing up
the System State should do it. However, if the server died, then you'd
first have to install Win2000 and then promote the server to DC, then
you have two options. One is to restore System State (and AD), the
other is to just wait for replication.

However it is likely that the DC is also doing something else,
especially if the shop is a small one. Why not do a full backup of all
partitions while you are at it? That is all I meant, nothing more.
Sorry again for the confusion.

"system volume
The volume that contains the hardware-specific files that are needed
to load Windows on x86-based computers with a BIOS. The system volume
can be, but does not have to be, the same volume as the boot volume."

"boot volume
The volume that contains the Windows operating system and its support
files. The boot volume can be, but does not have to be, the same as
the system volume."

http://www.microsoft.com/resources/.../Windows/XP/all/reskit/en-us/gloss_rk_pro.asp

(Watch the wrap!)

eg my system has Windows XP on the D: drive. That is the boot volume.
However the files necessary to *load* Windows are on the C: drive.
That is the system volume. It all seems backwards to me!

Cheers,

Cliff