Question

To Backup All DC's or only one?

Asked by: D303M

I like to backup my DC's two to three times a week. I have someone at my office who is saying we are wasting tape by doing this. He suggests that we only need to backup one DC. If any other DC fails we just format and reinstall and DCPROMO it.

I'm thinking I want at least one full backup of each DC a week. I want system state back ups at least once a day but again I'm being told this takes too much tape and is a waste.

What is a best practice for backing up DC's ? Are there any docs that I can use for a reference and documentation to verify the best way to do this?

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Asked On
2008-03-04 at 05:39:35ID23212447
Topics

Active Directory

,

Windows 2003 Server

,

Microsoft Operating Systems

Participating Experts
7
Points
500
Comments
7

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Answers

 

by: PberPosted on 2008-03-04 at 05:46:36ID: 21040825

they are sort of right.  Technically you could only back up one and it should be ok.  But if you have replication issues that you were unaware of and a DC went down and required a restore.  So some information in this situation would be lost.  Also what happens if a backup doesn't work.  If you had more than one backed up, it would provide an alternate backup/restore solution.  

You should at least back up 2 DC's/domain.  

 

by: tomo999Posted on 2008-03-04 at 05:53:09ID: 21040863

I would say it depends on your timeframe for getting the DC back online, and your site configuration.

If you only have one site, and you can spend a long time rebuilding a failed DC then it is up to you how many you backup. Just remember that when you build a new DC and DCPROMO it, you will have to do a metadata clearup to remove all the details of the old DC.

However, if the DCs were on separate sites then I would back them both up. This is because when you DCPROMO the new DC, it will have to copy all the AD data across the network for a first sync (unless you use a media install...).

http://technet2.microsoft.com/windowsserver/en/library/f3bfb611-dcbe-4365-8f1d-3321916aeb631033.mspx?mfr=true

 

by: SteveH_UKPosted on 2008-03-04 at 05:55:18ID: 21040882

My personal best practice is to back up entire servers each week with off-site tape removal schedules.  Additionally, I'd recommend either a full, differential or incremental backup during the week depending on your tape capacity and data change rates.

The main issue is that when a server fails, how quickly must it be brought online as this will determine how frequently you should perform full backups.

Relying on a single backup of an alternative server means that you won't be able to rebuild another machine if that fails.  Instead, you have to install a fresh server.

I would argue strongly that if you can't afford to backup all your servers regularly, (and not just System State --- which really misses the point about what System State represents) then you can't really afford to run your servers and should reconsider your estate.  Backup costs should be considered as integral to the operational costs of a server.

 

by: dan_blagutPosted on 2008-03-04 at 05:57:04ID: 21040895

Hi
You need to backup the FSMO roles holders. That is a must
For others is ok one backup for week. You need to backup daily only if you have some other app that runs on these DC.

Dan

 

by: ormerodrutterPosted on 2008-03-04 at 06:04:02ID: 21040955

Recommend to backup the MASTER DC. The other can be rebuilt fairly easily. System state data usually aren't too big, approx 200-300Mb (depending the size of your AD of course).

 

by: KCTSPosted on 2008-03-04 at 06:12:28ID: 21041038

There is some logic in backing up only one DC, If you backup the FSMO role holder than it is easier just to zap a failed DC, do a metadata cleanup and install another. It does all depend however on what else is installed. If you are using other applications and/or using the DC as a file server then obviusly to keed to make sure those are backed up.

 

by: PakaPosted on 2008-03-04 at 06:17:16ID: 21041089

Answering your original post questions:
What is a best practice for backing up DC's ? Are there any docs that I can use for a reference and documentation to verify the best way to do this?

Here's a link to the Active Directory Ops Guide:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb727048.aspx#EMAA

Here's a couple important extracts:
At a minimum, back up two domain controllers in each domain, one of which should be an operations master role holder (excluding the relative ID (RID) master, which should not be restored). Note that backup data from a domain controller can only be used to restore that domain controller. You cannot use a backup of one domain controller to restore another.

The guide also recommends backingup DCs "At least twice within the tombstone lifetime"

20120131-EE-VQP-002

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