What would like happen if a certiifcate server suddenly went down and no way to recover?

Depends on what you were using the certificates for. Unless you don't have a backup your issued certificates will eventually expire and with no way of renewing them...If you use the certificates for IPsec or authentication of VPN all would eventually fail unless you would provide a valid certificate. How to backup a CA: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc737405(WS.10).aspx#BKMK_CMD Certificate Services Best practices: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc738786(WS.10).aspxMCTS...

I am in agreement with Marius. Please have a look at similar thread below which may help you... Server crash; no cert backup; possible to restore? http://www.tek-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=1601786 ~Santosh

Hello, I agree with Marius. That depends of the CA that is down and how you are using certificates. As an example: You use a root CA to issue and renew certificates of subordinate CAs You use subordinate CAs to issue certificates for clients Here, making offline the root CA will cause issues when renewing the subordinate CAs (Note that it is recommended to keep it offline for security reasons). For subordinate CAs, your clients will not be able to get certificates or renew them and current certificates will be expired after the mentioned period and services running using them will stop working. This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties or guarantees , and confers no rights. Microsoft Student Partner 2010 / 2011 Microsoft Certified Professional Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator: Security Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer: Security Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist: Windows Server 2008 Active Directory, Configuration Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist: Windows Server 2008 Network Infrastructure, Configuration Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist: Windows Server 2008 Applications Infrastructure, Configuration Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist: Windows 7, Configuring Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist: Designing and Providing Volume Licensing Solutions to Large Organizations Microsoft Certified IT Professional: Enterprise Administrator Microsoft Certified IT Professional: Server Administrator Microsoft Certified Trainer

Depends on what you were using the certificates for. Unless you don't have a backup your issued certificates will eventually expire and with no way of renewing them...If you use the certificates for IPsec or authentication of VPN all would eventually fail unless you would provide a valid certificate. How to backup a CA: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc737405(WS.10).aspx#BKMK_CMD Certificate Services Best practices: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc738786(WS.10).aspxMCTS...

Hello, I agree with Marius. That depends of the CA that is down and how you are using certificates. As an example: You use a root CA to issue and renew certificates of subordinate CAs You use subordinate CAs to issue certificates for clients Here, making offline the root CA will cause issues when renewing the subordinate CAs (Note that it is recommended to keep it offline for security reasons). For subordinate CAs, your clients will not be able to get certificates or renew them and current certificates will be expired after the mentioned period and services running using them will stop working. This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties or guarantees , and confers no rights. Microsoft Student Partner 2010 / 2011 Microsoft Certified Professional Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator: Security Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer: Security Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist: Windows Server 2008 Active Directory, Configuration Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist: Windows Server 2008 Network Infrastructure, Configuration Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist: Windows Server 2008 Applications Infrastructure, Configuration Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist: Windows 7, Configuring Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist: Designing and Providing Volume Licensing Solutions to Large Organizations Microsoft Certified IT Professional: Enterprise Administrator Microsoft Certified IT Professional: Server Administrator Microsoft Certified Trainer