chapter 18: windows server 2008 r2 and active directory backup and maintenance bai617
TRANSCRIPT
Chapter 18:Windows Server 2008 R2 and ActiveDirectory Backup and Maintenance
BAI617
Chapter Topics
• Windows Server Backup• Defragment AD DS offline
Why?
• Backup and recovery are familiar tasks to most server administrators.
• Protecting data and applications is important enough, but recovering your Active Directory can be even more vital to continued operations
Backing Up and Restoring Windows Server
• Windows Server Backup may not provide every feature you might want in an enterprise environment, it does a good job of backing up and restoring a Windows Server 2008 R2 server.
• Windows Server Backup can be used to back up remote computers
• It most suited to backing up the local server.
2008 Improvements
• System state backups and recoveries can now be performed using the Windows Server Backup snap-in in Server Manager.– A system state backup contains all the data
necessary to restore the operating system to the state it was in when the backup was made
2008 Improvements
• The Windows Server Backup tool includes full functionality from both the command line and Windows PowerShell utilities. You can do everything from the command line or through scripting that you can do from the Windows Server Backup snap-in
2008 Improvements
• Remote storage options for backups include remote shared folders and volumes (such as iSCSI or Fibre Channel volumes) and virtual disks
• You can perform automatic management of stored backups. Windows Server Backup will automatically delete old backups to make room for current backups
2008 Limitations
• Unlike earlier versions of Windows Server, Windows Server 2008 R2 only supports backing up to internal or external disks or to optical media such as CD or DVD.
• Tape backups are no longer supported, and tape drivers are no longer supplied
2008 Limitations
• There is a data size limit of 2TB (2048GB) per volume that can be backed up using Windows Server Backup
• Windows Server Backup only works with volumes that are formatted with NTFS
• Windows Server Backup cannot read backups made with NTbackup.exe
Getting Your System Ready
• Windows Server Backup is installed as a feature within the File Services role in Windows Server 2008 R2 and comprises three distinct parts:– Microsoft Management Console (MMC) snap-in– Command-line tools (Wbadmin.exe)– Windows PowerShell cmdlets
Remote v. Local
• The biggest difference between storing backups in a network shared folder vs. using a local disk is that Windows Server Backup will store multiple versions of backups on a local disk but will store only the most recent version of a backup in a remote location.
• Having multiple backups for a specific server computer means that you can recover from changes made on those dates as well as recover from a complete data loss.
Using Removable Media
• When backing up to disks, consider using some type of removable disk, such as an external USB or eSATA hard disk. – A better implementation would include multiple
removable disks that could then be rotated to off-site storage to provide a higher level of disaster recovery protection.
Backing Up and Restoring a Full Server
• Performing a full server backup is one of the easiest types of backup to perform and is also one of the best types in terms of recovery. A full server backup includes the following parts:– All local volumes (virtual disks hosted on local
volumes will not be backed up if they are online)– Critical volumes– System state
Full Server Backup – Pros & Cons
• With a full server backup you can:– recover individual files and folders and entire volumes
in case of disk failure. – Perform a “bare-metal” recovery in which you have
replaced the entire server computer (or at least the hard disks containing the operating system and system state) and there is no operating system installed.
• The drawbacks to a full server backup:– The size of the backup – The time required to perform the backup.
Backing Up and Restoring Files and Folders
• In addition to full server and system state backups, Windows Server Backup lets you back up and restore individual files, folders, and volumes– This is the method to use when you are more
concerned about recovering data than the operating system itself
Performing a Manual Backup of Files and Folders
• Data backups (of files and folders) either can be scheduled or can be manual operations in Windows Server Backup. – One common backup configuration for a server
that houses important data would be for a full server backup each night with an additional file and folder backup of data during the day (more frequently depending on the nature of the data)
Stopping and Restarting Active Directory
• Restartable Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS), introduced in Windows Server 2008 – lets you stop AD DS to perform maintenance on
the server without requiring you to restart the server in Active Directory Recovery Mode
• This allows for offline AD DS defragmentation• Once you stop AD DS on the server, users can
continue to log on to the domain if other domain controllers are available
Stopping and Starting AD DS
• Stopping AD DS is done exactly like stopping any service in Windows, by using the Services snap-in in Server Manager or Computer Management.
• You must be a member of the Domain Administrators group
Stopping and Starting AD DS1. Open Server Manager. Select Start > Administrative Tools > Server
Manager, or click the Server Manager button on the taskbar.
2. Expand Services and Applications, and then click Services. In Server Manager, expand Configuration, and then click Services.
3. Right-click Active Directory Domain Services in the details pane. Click Stop on the context menu. – You will be prompted to approve a list of other services upon which AD DS
depends. Accept the list, and those services will also be stopped. They will be restarted when you start AD DS again.
4. To start AD DS, right-click Active Directory Domain Services, and then click Start.
Defragmenting Active Directory Offline
• Before performing an offline defragmentation– Back up the system state and critical drives of the
domain controller to be sure you can recover from any serious errors that might occur.
– Verify that there is ample free space on the volume that contains the AD DS database (Ntds.dit) for temporary space. • Microsoft recommends free space equal to at least 15
percent of the Ntds.dit file size for temporary space needs.
Performing Offline Defragmentation of Ntds.dit
• See the 9 step process for defragmentation on page 805 of your text.
Review
• Windows Server Backup• Defragment AD DS offline
