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Advanced ModeAdvanced Mode is accessed by clicking the Advanced Mode link in the opening Backup or Restore Wizard window see Figure 7.38.. Using Advanced Mode, you can predefine differen

Advanced Mode

Advanced Mode is accessed by clicking the Advanced Mode link in the opening Backup or

Restore Wizard window (see Figure 7.38) Advanced Mode gives you direct access to the ASR Wizard, customization options, and reporting and media management functions If you click

Advanced Mode, you are presented with the window shown in Figure 7.39

Using Advanced Mode, you can predefine different backup jobs and save their settings.You can then set up schedules for these backup jobs to accommodate the needs of your organization and

your data.You can also access the Report option (available from Tools | Report) to get detailed

information on the backup and restore activity that has occurred on your system

Using the Command-Line Tools

You can also run the Windows Backup Utility as part of a batch file or directly from a command prompt Using this capability, you can integrate the Windows Backup Utility into sophisticated batch files or scripts Most of the options available in Advanced Mode are available when using the command-line mode However, you cannot do a restore from the command-line Restores must be performed with the Wizard or Advanced Mode

Selecting Backup Media

An important part of your backup and restore strategy is your choice of backup media Many dif-ferent types of media are usable by Windows Backup, and each has advantages and disadvantages You must consider factors such as backup and restore speed, media capacity, media cost, device cost, media shelf life, and the reliability of the technology

When analyzing these factors, take a long-term view.Technology changes rapidly, but data stays around for a long time Examine the necessary life of your data Accounting data usually needs to be recoverable for seven years Data relating to legal proceedings may need to be retained for decades

Medical research data may need to be retained for centuries No single media or technology will

Figure 7.39 The Windows Backup Utility, Advanced Mode

meet all of these requirements, but with proper planning, you can ensure that you and your succes-sors can manage the retention of data

Tape technology has been around for a long time.Tape lends itself very well to high-volume, long-term storage of data.Tape is the most common type of backup media used and is almost always the eventual endpoint of saved data

The Windows Backup Utility can use any type of tape drive and tape technology supported by Windows Server 2003 When purchasing a tape drive, make sure that the operating system supports it

Choosing the type of tape drive and media can be difficult, since tape technology is widely varied and available in several different formats, capacities, and speeds Extensive research may be required to choose a technology that matches your requirements for data volume, backup speed, and restore speed

Scheduling Backups

You can use the Schedule Jobs tab in the Windows Backup Utility, shown in Figure 7.40, to create

an automated schedule of backup jobs.You can define different types of jobs and different schedules

For example, you can define and schedule normal (full) backups every Friday starting at 6:00 P.M and differential backups every weeknight starting at 10:00 P.M.The jobs will automatically execute when their scheduled times occur

Restoring from Backup Backing up data is important, but the objective of any backup and restore application is the suc-cessful restoration of data after it is lost or corrupted A backup process without a restore process is useless

As with backups, knowing your data is important when attempting a restore operation Some types of data must be restored as a unit (system state), some data may require additional preparation

or utilities for a successful restore (AD), and some data may require noting more than a place to put

it (normal shared files)

Figure 7.40 Scheduling Backups with the Backup Utility

As mentioned previously, you can restore files using either the Backup Utility’s Backup or Restore Wizard or Advanced Mode.The first step is to select the backup media to restore from

When using Advanced Mode, you can click the Restore and Manage Media tab to select the

media, as shown in Figure 7.41.You can expand the media listing on this tab until you find the items you wish to restore, and then select those items by clicking the check box next to each item

By default, files restored from media will not overwrite existing files of the same name.You can

alter this behavior by changing the restore options available on the Restore tab of the Options dialog box (accessed by selecting Tools | Options), as shown in Figure 7.42.

When you have selected the items you wish to restore, you must determine if you want to restore them to their original locations or to an alternate location.This is determined by the setting

you select in the Restore files to drop-down list on the Restore and Manage Media tab (see Figure 7.41) Once you have selected the restore options desired, click the Start Restore button to

begin the restore process

Figure 7.41 Choosing the Restore Source Media

Figure 7.42 The Restore Options

Use the following steps to create a backup schedule on your Windows Server 2003 computer.

Create a Backup Schedule

1 Select Start | All Programs | Accessories | System Tools | Backup In the Backup or Restore Wizard, click Next Select Back up files and settings, as shown in Figure 7.43, and click Next

2 Select Let me choose what to back up, as shown in Figure 7.44, and click Next

3 For this example, select My Documents in the Items to Back Up window, shown in Figure 7.45, and click Next

Figure 7.43 Select Backup Files and Settings

Figure 7.44 Select to Choose What to Back Up

4 Select the destination, location, and name for your backup, and then click Next Note that for this example, a file has been chosen for the destination, as shown in Figure 7.46

5 In the Completing the Backup or Restore Wizard window, shown in Figure 7.47, click Advanced

Figure 7.45 Choose Items to Back Up

Figure 7.46 Selecting a Destination for the Backup

Figure 7.47 Choose Advanced to Specify Backup Options

6 Select Normal as the backup type, as shown in Figure 7.48, and click Next.

7 Make no changes in the How to Back Up window, shown in Figure 7.49, and click Next

8 In the Backup Options window, select Replace the existing backups, as shown in Figure 7.50, and click Next

Figure 7.48 Select the Backup Type

Figure 7.49 How to Back Up Options

Figure 7.50 Select Backup Options

9 In the When to Back Up window, select Later and enter Friday in to the Job name text box, as shown in Figure 7.51.Then click the Set Schedule button

10 In the Schedule Job dialog box, change the backup to run Weekly on Friday at 8:00PM, as shown in Figure 7.52, and click OK

11 In the Set Account Information dialog box, shown in Figure 7.53, enter an account and password with sufficient permissions to perform the backup and click OK.You may be prompted for this information more than once

Figure 7.51 Specify When to Back Up

Figure 7.52 Schedule a Weekly Backup Job

Figure 7.53 Set Account Information

12 Scheduling of the backup is now complete Close and reopen the Backup Utility.

13 Click Advanced Mode and select the Schedule Jobs tab.You will see your scheduled backups ready to go, as shown in Figure 7.54

Planning System Recovery with ASR

The Automated System Recovery (ASR) feature of Windows Server 2003 is new and replaces the older

emergency repair disk (ERD) concept.You might have heard the saying,“Outages take seconds; recov-eries take days.” ASR was designed to specifically address this issue

In the past 10 years, the state-of-the art operating system has gone from DOS to Windows Server 2003.The operating system’s complexity has increased, along with the difficulty in trou-bleshooting and repair If an operating system component of a DOS system became corrupted, often

a single command (SYS) could be used to re-create the operating system on the affected disk within minutes Starting with Windows NT, however, repair was not that simple.The operating system no longer consisted of a few basic files, but hundreds of files that were linked together by the Registry

Troubleshooting became extremely difficult A complete reinstallation and recovery was often neces-sary, followed by hours of tweaking and reconfiguration in an attempt to return to the previous operational state

Now, with ASR, you can re-create and restore the entire operating system exactly as it was in one

simple and quick process It’s important to note that ASR is not meant as a substitute for regular backups ASR protects only the operating system and any other data that is on the same partitions

or volumes as the operating system files.Typically, applications and data must continue to be backed

up on a regular basis outside your adopted ASR procedures However, a proper ASR routine can mean the difference between spending a weekend or a couple of hours on recovery

What Is ASR?

ASR is a two-part, last-resort, system recovery feature for all components of the operating system, including the system state, system services, disk signatures, and partition layouts It is similar to some third-party disaster-recovery tools, but it is more specific in purpose

Figure 7.54 View Scheduled Backups in Advanced Mode

Unlike an operating system reinstallation, an ASR restore will re-create the exact state of the

oper-ating system at the time the ASR backup was performed.This means that for ASR to be effective, you should make sure that an ASR backup is performed after each change in the operating system

How ASR Works

ASR involves two main processes:

■ ASR backup The process of creating an ASR set, which consists of a 1.44MB floppy

diskette and a linked backup media containing ASR-created backup data.These two com-ponents are necessary for performing an ASR restore and must be kept together

■ ASR restore The process of re-creating the operating system and system-related disk partitions/volumes from an ASR set In addition to the ASR set, you will need to have the original media used to install Windows Server 2003 on your server

An ASR backup creates a set of all of the information necessary to re-create the operating system

at the time the ASR backup is performed When an ASR restore is performed, the operating system is reinstalled using the original Windows Server 2003 media However, instead of generating new disk signatures, security identifiers, and Registry content, these items are restored from the ASR set

Alternatives to ASR

Before resorting to an ASR restore, there are a few alternatives that you should attempt for expedi-ency and simplicity Sometimes, these alternatives resolve the issue, so an ASR restore is unnecessary Safe Mode Boot

A Safe Mode startup starts the system with the minimum number of drivers enabled Only key-board, mouse, base video, monitor, disk, and default services are loaded No network is available.This startup option can sometimes be used to get around a failed software application, service, or device driver that is causing system problems If the system boots successfully, you can then disable or unin-stall the problem driver, service, or application

Last Known Good Boot Mode

The Last Known Good option starts the system normally but uses the Registry settings from the last successful logon to the system.This is useful to get past misconfiguration issues, especially regarding drivers that can cause system instability A successful boot with this option will wipe out any setting

or configuration changes that have occurred since the last successful logon Once a logon occurs, these settings will then become the new Last Known Good configuration

ASR As a Last Resort

If none of the above alternatives work, then an ASR restore may be necessary Remember that ASR restores and re-creates the system as it was when the ASR set was created Because of this, it is important to keep your ASR set up-to-date At a minimum, an ASR backup should be performed after each operating system or system change

Using the ASR Wizard The ASR Wizard is accessed from the Windows Backup Utility in Advanced Mode.To start the

Wizard, click its icon on the Welcome tab or select if from the Tools menu, as shown in Figure 7.55.

The ASR Wizard will start, prompt you for a destination for the backup, as shown in Figure 7.56, and proceed to create the backup

When the partitions or volumes that contain operating system components have been backed

up, you will be prompted to insert a blank 1.44MB diskette, as shown in Figure 7.57 Insert the

diskette into the floppy drive and click OK.

Figure 7.55 Starting the ASR Wizard

Figure 7.56 The ASR Preparation Wizard, Choose a Destination