Guest or VM Image backup for DC

Hi Wade,

I would go with the image level backup . Because :

1. In case the server is down, it is much quicker and easier to restore the whole server from Image backup.

2. You also have option to restore needed files from it if needed.

3. With the CBT backups will quicker.

4. Using the VMware quiesce snapshot during backup, it is always made sure the AD or any other DB running in it is captured in consistent state. Backup is application consistant.

5. If you are using Avamar 7.0 with the backup on DD, you can run VM directly from backup which is matter of few seconds.

If there is only one DC and it goes down then there you can simply restore the VM and start using it.

If there are multiple domain controllers, then  right after restore we need to :

1. Immediately after recovering an entire domain controller or its database, boot the recovered domain controller and press F8 during startup.
2. On the Advanced Boot Options screen, select Directory Services Restore Mode.
3. Log on to Directory Services Restore Mode (DSRM), open Registry Editor, and then expand the following registry key:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\NTDS\Parameters
4. In that registry key, examine the DSA Previous Restore Count value. If this value is present, write down its setting. Do not add the value if it is absent.
5. Add the following value to that registry key:Restart the domain controller in normal mode.
   • Value type: DWORD (32-bit) Value
   • Value name: Database restored from backup
   • Value data: 1

You can find more details in the :

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/d2cae85b-41ac-497f-8cd1-5fbaa6740ffe(v=ws.10)#backup_and_restore_considerations_for_virtualized_domain_controllers

Thanks,

Jitendra Singh

Avamar Support Team