Hacks #90-100
Backing up systems and configurations for services is your first line
of defense against a disaster. Unfortunately, this is often more
complicated than it sounds. Restoring an entire system from scratch
is usually a complex and time-consuming procedure, and it is usually
not necessary when only one component or feature has become corrupted
or lost.This chapter looks at the backup process and
examines how to back up specific
entities, such as your System State, certificate authority (CA)
information, Encrypting File System (EFS) keys, and Distributed File
System (DFS) namespace. We also look at how to back up something as
simple as an individual file from the command line, to something as
complicated as an entire system using the new
Automated System Recover (ASR) feature of
Windows Server 2003. Also included is a script that can be used to
collect disaster recovery files and event logs from remote Windows
2000 servers.We also map out procedures you can use to recover a failed system,
short of restoring everything from backup, navigating through a maze
of options (such as Safe Mode, Emergency Repair, Last Known Good
Configuration, and the Recovery Console). Finally, we mention a few
services you can call on when your worst nightmare happens and you
need to recover your business data from a failed disk that has no
backup.