Chapter 32. Backing Up a Windows Server 2003 Environment

In This Chapter

• Disaster Recovery Planning

• Discovery: Learning the Environment

• Documenting the Enterprise

• Developing a Backup Strategy

• Backing Up the Windows Server 2003 Operating System and Services

• Examining the Windows Server 2003 Backup Programs

• Virtual Disk Service

• Using the Windows Server 2003 Backup Utility (ntbackup.exe)

• Using Remote Storage

• Using the Volume Shadow Copy Service

• Windows Server 2003 Service Backup Options

• Media Management for Windows Server 2003 Backup and the Remote Storage Service

• Windows Server 2003 Startup Troubleshooting Utilities

Windows Server 2003 is a robust and reliable operating system platform. There are many reasons to introduce Windows Server 2003 systems into a server environment, including distributed file, remote access, directory, print, Web, and network services. This stable platform can support several users, but as with any production implementation of a server, before the product is deployed, IT personnel should know how to install and configure it properly, how to optimize and monitor performance, how to support it, and equally important, how to back up and restore if a system failure is encountered.

When a new computer service, application, or operating system platform is introduced into a network, it always requires attention in the area of backup and disaster recovery planning. Administrators are faced with the task of creating a disaster recovery plan, which can seem to be an intimidating task. Disaster recovery planning is analogous to the age-old question, "What came first: the chicken or the egg?" How does it compare? For a disaster recovery plan, the question may be "What comes first: the backup plan or the recovery plan?" At least in this case, the answer is simple: They complement one another, so they should be planned in parallel.

Before a backup plan can be created, administrators must understand what types of failures or disasters they need to plan for and the recovery requirements for each of these failures. Learning first what is necessary for a recovery gives administrators a list of all the elements they may need to back up for recovery when a particular failure is encountered. When they know what needs to be backed up, they can then create the backup plan. So it is recommended that administrators research each server service and application to understand what is necessary for recovery so that their backup plan will target the correct information.

This chapter covers disaster recovery planning, providing tips, tricks, and best practices on implementing a backup and recovery strategy. In addition, it also provides step-by-step instructions for using tools built into Windows Server 2003.