Administering the Backup Server › How Arcserve Backup Protects Active Directory Data on Domain Controller Servers

How Arcserve Backup Protects Active Directory Data on Domain Controller Servers

Active Directory is a hierarchical database that is stored on Domain Controller servers. The Active Directory includes static information about computer users, groups, printers, computer network configuration data, and so on.

Arcserve Backup lets you back up and restore the entire Active Directory on Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, and Windows Server 2012 systems. On Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, and Windows Server 2012 systems, you can restore the Active Directory at object level granularity.

You can restore the Active Directory files (*.dit and log files) to any domain controller server that meets the following conditions:

• The Client Agent for Windows is installed on the domain controller server.
• The domain controller server resides in the same domain as the server from which the backup was taken.
• The operating system running on the domain controller server is the same version, release, and service pack as the server from which the backup was taken.

Arcserve Backup lets you protect the Active Directory using the following approaches:

• Restore the System State to its original location--Arcserve Backup lets you restore the System State, which includes all objects in the Active Directory, to the server from which it was backed up. With this approach, you overwrite all of the objects contained in the Active Directory.

  Use this approach when you need to restore the entire Active Directory to a previous point in time.

• Restore the Active Directory to an alternate location--Arcserve Backup lets you restore the Active Directory to an alternate location. This approach is a two-phase process that lets you restore Active Directory data at object level granularity on Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, and Windows Server 2012 systems. With this approach, you restore the Active Directory to an alternate location using the Restore Manager, and then restore Active Directory objects using the Arcserve Active Directory Object Level Restore utility.

  The alternate location can reside on a server that does not function as a Domain Controller server. However, the best practice is to restore the Active Directory to an alternate location on the server from which it was backed up.

  Note: Arcserve Backup cannot restore Active Directory objects at object level granularity on Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2012 systems that function as read-only domain controllers.

Example: When to Restore the Active Directory at Object Level Granularity

• A system administrator deleted a group of users, groups, or an object from the Active Directory in error.

Note: To protect Active Directory data, Arcserve Backup Client Agent for Windows must be licensed on the Domain Controller server.

Arcserve Backup lets you restore Active Directory data that was backed up using the following Arcserve Backup releases:

• Arcserve Backup r12. Includes the general availability release and all of the latest service packs.
• Arcserve Backup r12.5. Includes the general availability release and all of the latest service packs.
• This release of Arcserve Backup.

The Arcserve Active Directory Object Level Restore utility lets you restore the following Active Directory objects:

• Organizational Unit
• User
• Group
• Computer
• Contact
• Connection
• Shared folder
• Printer
• Site
• Site container
• Site link
• Site link bridge
• Site settings
• Subnet container
• Trusted domain
• Configuration class
• Lostandfound class
• Builtindomain class
• Dnszone class
• Domain class
• Domaindns class
• Dmd class
• Organizationalunit class
• Containerecifiers class

The Arcserve Active Directory Object Level Restore utility cannot restore the following Active Directory objects

• System Schema
• Global Policy Object (GPO)

This section contains the following topics:

Back up the Active Directory

Restore Active Directory Objects

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