Re: Disaster Recovery with NTBackup

DSRM... I've seen a few debates about whether booting into DSRM is required
or not on an SBS 2003 (i.e., single domain controller) restore. The last I
heard was that DSRM was required for pre-SBS 2003 SP1 and not required for
SBS 2003 SP1. However, even with pre-SP1, it does not hurt to boot into
DSRM to do a "bare metal" recovery. The MS online literature on SBS restore
has both included and excluded the DSRM requirement over the past couple of
years. So, I would use DSRM on any SBS 2003 restore, just to keep out of
trouble.

ACTIVATION REQUIRED... If you are restoring to different hardware (even for
just a test server), the requirement for reactivation before authenticating
to the server will kick in. Jeff Middleton published some info on this a
while back:

Disaster test - Windows Product Activation problem
http://groups.google.com/group/microsoft.public.windows.server.sbs/msg/fa071f2b172f036e?hl=en&;

If you have Software Assurance (SA) on your SBS 2003, you are allowed to
activate a second "cold server" (test server) so that you can examine it for
recovery completeness. Without SA, you'd need to restore to identical
hardware to bypass the activation. Note that as Jeff mentioned, this
"activation requirement" is an inherited trait from Windows 2003 Server and
is not SBS specific.

--
Merv Porter [SBS MVP]
===================================

"Helen Mooc" <hmooc@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:%23CpCIF1eGHA.3900@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Hey Merv,

So how come the link you provided me does not tell me to boot into
Disaster Recovery Service Mode (F8) for the restore process? Hence the
reason for my hick up yesterday when I was restoring the SBSbackup for the
second time. After applying the restore and follow by the reboot, my test
server looked blown up just if I was going to boot into Safe Mode on a PC.
It prompted me to activate Windows but I was not able to anyway since
there were no connectivity. Additionally if I don't activate, it wont let
me do anything but boot me out of windows screen. When I try to select
activate via telephone which I don't want to at this time, it wont' let me
move onto any where. Now today is my 3rd trial. I am going to update the
Windows SP 1 as well as booting into the DRSM environment to perform the
restore. This hope this will work perfectly this time.

Helen

"Merv Porter [SBS-MVP]" <mwport@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:e2HsQyteGHA.3900@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
As Jeff Middleton [SBS-MVP] responded to your post in the Yahoo SBS2K
group, you only need to install the base Win2K3 server + Win2k3 Sp1, not
other SPs for the apps (Exchange, ISA, Sharepoint, etc.). Then,
restoring your backup should make you whole again on the test server.
(Don't activate the test though).

--
Merv Porter [SBS MVP]
===================================

"Helen Mooc" <hmooc@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:eG9oZhreGHA.4720@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Merv,

Here is what's happen with the SECOND try with restoring the
NTbackup.bks I made from the SBS onto a test server which is exact model
as the production server. I reinstalled Windows 2003 with CD1. The SBS
was installed on C partition. D drive is for Exchange and E is for
couple of the big folders which is irrelevant at this stage. I did not
continue with the installed of Exchange as per the guide below.



According to the suggestions per link:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=487736f8-f6f5-436d-a82d-0c8d66e2a634&DisplayLang=en; I
updated the OS with the following to bring it up to the Service Pack as
what's appearing on the production server. To bring it up to the same
SP as production server, I followed this link from MS.



http://download.microsoft.com/download/e/0/f/e0fee8ce-768d-41c0-8871-9bc48e0b3fc3/ToDownLoadFilesandReadInstructions.htm



To sum it up, it lets me install Windows 2003 SP 1, Windows SharePoint
Services 2.0 Service Pack 1; but not Exchange Server 2003 Service Pack 1
(because it said I don't have Exchange 2003 install on the server);
Windows XP SP2 for Client Deployment but NOT Windows Small Business
Server 2003 Service Pack 1 (I got this error when trying to install it
"The /UattendFile switch can only be used on a domain controller running
Windows 2000 server SP 1, on a computer that is a member of a domain).



Should I move on with the restore despite of the errors? It is such
pain to exchange the original CDs for the ones wit the SP on it. I have
try contacting the vendor I purchased from but I have not heard back
from them after leaving voicemails on the sale tech and his manager
phone.



Thanks,

Helen



"Helen Mooc" <hmooc@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:uW0H8VgeGHA.1272@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Thank for your help Merv!!! I really appreciated. OK I am going to run
a full back up tonight using SBSbackup and try again with the restore
tomorrow. You might hear from me again later this week.

Cheers,
Helen

"Merv Porter [SBS-MVP]" <mwport@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:OKcv$AgeGHA.1204@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
And please use the SBS Backup Wizard to configure your backups and do
a FULL backup of your entire server (via Volume Shadow Copy). Yes, it
may seem redundant (maybe even wasteful) because it backs up Exchange
twice, but just let SBS have it's head and you'll be a lot happier.

--
Merv Porter [SBS MVP]
===================================
"Merv Porter [SBS-MVP]" <mwport@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:%23eGUZ7feGHA.1456@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
All you should need to do is install the Windows 2003 OS (SBS 2003
CD1) and then make sure Win2K3 SP1 is applied. Of course, if you
need RAID (or any other special drivers), install them as you install
the Windows OS. You also need to make sure that your partitions are
the same size as on your original install. Once this is done, all
your other apps (Exchange, Sharepoint, Line of Business, etc.) along
with their upgraded SP levels reside on the backup tape (or drive).
As long as the base OS and SP level are the same as what's on the
backup tape, the restored apps will re-integrate with the Windows OS.
Basically, your restore will not attempt to restore any of the base
Win2K3 OS since it's already on the drive. However, it will restore
the bits (like sercurity updates) to the level at which they were
when you made the backup.

The reason you need to install the base Win2K3 server OS is that it
has NTBackup integrated into it and you need NTbackup to restorem
your backup. And, as mentioned before, you need to be at the same
Win2K3 server SP level as when the backup was made because NTBackup
was tweaked (modified) by Microsoft with the release of SP1.

--
Merv Porter [SBS MVP]
===================================
"Helen Mooc" <hmooc@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:unmqCpfeGHA.5040@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Also in step 12 of the article, it mention installing all the SP.
Does that include Exchange SP 1 and SP 2 eventhough I did not
completed the installation with CD 2 and CD 3.

Thanks,
Helen

"Merv Porter [SBS-MVP]" <mwport@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in
message news:O%23WeUefeGHA.5016@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Hi Helen,

Yes, you need to reinstall the base OS (Windows 2003) and then
Windows 2003 SP1 if Sp1 was installed when the backup was made.
Then you should be able to restore the rest from backup. Windows
2003 must be at the same SP level as when the NTbackup was created.

Not sure why that link you provided is out of date. Try this
one...

Backing Up and Restoring Windows Small Business Server 2003
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=487736f8-f6f5-436d-a82d-0c8d66e2a634&DisplayLang=en

--
Merv Porter [SBS MVP]
===================================
"Helen Mooc" <hmooc@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:OJ$u85eeGHA.2456@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Hi all,

I am at the point of testing out a disaster recovery scenario
right now. Note my test server is exact copy of the production
copy, therefore I don't expect any hardware conflicts. I made a
normal backup of the small business server excluding info store
but include Storage Group (which is shown in the .bkf file).
After following the link below to the "t", I got to the step 18
and rebooted the server.

http://www.microsoft.com/smallbusiness/support/articles/backup_restore_sbs2003.mspx

Now I am getting this stop error upon reboot:

"Windows could not start because the following file is missing or
corrupt: <Windows root>\system32\ntoskrnl.exe. Please re-install
a copy of the above file"

I have try rebooting and select "the last known good option" but
obviously it does not work since the all the OS files have changed
from the restore.

Could it be because I did not install the SBS service pack, but it
was not mentioned in the link? I did not complete the entire
install and there's a lot programs such an antivirus scan,
register hacking I did to increase info store size etc done of the
production server. Could the omissions of some of the steps in the
production server be somewhat of the cause of the problem in
question?

Any assistance is appreciated.

Helen



















.

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