Active Directory Disaster Recovery 4

There are parts of the system that Active Directory is very dependant on, and these too should be backed up.

It is important that you backup the underlying services and dependencies.   Active directory relies heavily on DNS.   If you are using active directory- integrated DNS then you will not need to ensure you backup the zone files.

I recommend that you backup the system disk as well as the system state. Backing up the system disk will incorporate the DNS zone data, and if your DNS zone is large....

Remember that good practice dictates that database files and log files be placed on separate disks.   Note: you will not have to specify where these files are even if they are on separate disks as backing up the system state automatically consolidates the files into one location for backup purposes.

Directory service

The directory service is the mechanism that Active Directory uses to trace and classify users and resources existing in a distributed system. The directory service should be considered within your overall AD backup and restore strategy. Directory service information can be replicated to other domain controllers in the same domain environment. It is vital that a recovery plan is in place before attempting a restore. All changes encountered during backup are stored in a temporary log and appended to the end of the backup set when the backup is complete.

Remember:

System State data does not contain Active Directory unless the server on which you're backing up System State is a domain controller.

You can back up System State data by itself, or you can back up System State data with other files as part of your regular backup procedures.

You CAN back up System State data to a disk, tape, or a network share while the domain controller is online.

If you're backing up to tape, you might have to use Rem

To Restore Active Directory                               Back