I have windows server 2008 Enterprise edition server. i have planning to change my hardware. please tell me how take DNS & AD backup & how to restore.

Hi, Please go to link below for more info, http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc770266(WS.10).aspxPlease bear in mind, that my answer is based on the details given in your post. The more I get the better the answer, Slan go foill, Paul

Hello, If your changing the hardware you need to backup the Active directory, clean install a new DC on the new server and then perform an authoritative or non-authoritative restore of Active directory. Please check this article. http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc816932(WS.10).aspx For DNS backup: http://johndelizo.wordpress.com/2009/08/12/backing-up-windows-server-2008-dns-zone-files/ For Windows 2008 System state and Baremetal backup: http://araihan.wordpress.com/2010/01/19/enhanced-windows-server-2008-backup-utility/ For Restore Windows 2008 from network location: http://blogs.technet.com/b/askcore/archive/2009/02/04/windows-server-backup-2008-restore-from-network-location.aspx Thanks

Heya Disk Quota, Is this the only domain controller in your company? If it is, the posts above will give you some great information. If not, you will not have to worry about making a backup of your DNS or AD structure. Since AD and DNS live on multiple servers you would want to do these steps if you are replacing the server: 1) Promote your new domain controller 2) Transfer off any roles that the server might have to another domain controller. 3) Wait until replication has occured, then verifiy that the other servers see the new DC as the master for those roles. 4) Make sure that any machines that use this server as a DNS host have other DNS hosts in their network configuration. 5) Demote the old server However, if you are only making hardware changes and do not expect to have any issues with those changes (like putting in a new network card or adding a hard drive) then you still do not need to make any backups of your DNS or AD if you have multiple domain controllers. If you have only one domain contollers the first thing you should do before making any hardware changes to it... well, before doing anything, is to bring up at least one additional DC. Anyway, if you have multiple domain controllers you can just make your hardware changes, if the system fails on the way back up you will have to clean up the AD meta data on one of the other domain controllers. The only time you would ever want to restore from a backup of AD or DNS is if you lose all of your domain controllers. AD keeps full copies on all of your domain controllers (except your read-only hosts) just in case one DC fails. So, to make your hardware changes in an environment with multiple DCs where you are only replacing parts of a server or upgrading (such as a processor, more memory, a second hard drive, etc.) then you do not need to do a backup of AD or DNS. Doing so and restoring from those files into other domain controllers could actually be bad for your environment. If you are planning on bringing up a new server (and you only have one DC currently), bring that one up, promote it to be a domain controller, transfer all the roles to it, and then demote your current DC (if you want to get rid of it). That way you are never faced with restoring from a backup. It all depends on what you mean by "changing your hardware." However, if you have multiple DCs I would recommend staying away from a backup. If you have only one DC, promote another server to be a DC before making any changes. You do not want to find yourself in a situation where your DC failed and you have no backup to recover from. When you have two or more DCs there is a lot less to worry about when one does not come up.

The best bet to do this scenario would be a makng an additional new harware as Additional Domain Controller and transferring the roles from old server to the new server this way you will have less headache and full redudancy without causing chaos on the network. please tell me how take DNS & AD backup & how to restore ? Start reading it from here http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc771290(WS.10).aspx http://ec2000.blogspot.com/2008/01/how-to-backup-system-state-only-in.html Note:Regarding the DNS backup when you have Active Directory Integrated then DNS will be backed up along with the system state backup. http://www.virmansec.com/blogs/skhairuddin

Hello, as a new server should be installed please add it as additional DC/DNS/GC to the domain. There is no need with using backup and restore if you have a new server that can be used. Which doesn't prevent you to have of course an up to date backup before strating the process. During the process use ONLY the existing DC/DNS on the NIC as preferred and after everything, especially the DNS zones are replicated, check that sysvol/netlogon share exist on the new DC. Now transfer the FSMO roles to the new DC, reconfigure all domain machines to use this one as preferred DNS server. Use the support tools dcdiag, and dnslint to check for errors in the domain/DCs. For one\two days disconnect the old DC to see that everything works as required, then reconnect and demote the older DC. Keep in mind that it is recommended to have at least 2 DC/DNS/GC per domain for failover and redundancy.Best regards Meinolf Weber Disclaimer: This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties or guarantees , and confers no rights.

Heya Disk, There are a lot of answers here, several are the same; but the big question is, "What do you mean by 'change my hardware'?" There are a lot of factors that are not included in your post. Is this your only domain controller? Are you just replacing hardware inside of the DC? Are you replacing the entire DC? To correctly answer your question we will need more details on what you are trying to do and what you are working with.

Hi Disk, If there is any update on this issue, please feel free to let us know.Thanks. BrentPlease remember to click Mark as Answer on the post that helps you, and to click Unmark as Answer if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.