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Windows Server

Restoring Windows Server 2008 (part 1) - Full Server Recovery

3/25/2011 9:53:51 PM
When questioned, most administrators indicate that they perform some type of server backup on a regular basis. When that same group of administrators is asked if they frequently test their recovery operations for the systems being backed up, the percentage of those responding “yes” tends to drop to an alarmingly low level.

Simply put, it is not enough to execute backups and hope that recovery proceeds without issue in the event of a disaster. The time to discover that recovery is not possible or that a backup strategy is insufficient is not when you need recovery. Test recovery operations regularly to ensure that they work when needed.

Full Server Recovery

This exercise assumes the catastrophic loss of the server that was fully backed up in the previous “Full Server Backup” section. This section walks you through the recovery of that server using the backup that was created.

First, a word of caution: the Windows RE greatly simplifies the process of bringing back a server following catastrophic failure, but full server recovery is an inexact science. Oftentimes there are hardware differences between the server that was backed up and the server upon which recovery is being attempted. For example, hard drive counts and capacities may vary, RAID controllers may differ, network cards may be different, and more. Potential hardware differences and other variations may require you to adapt the full recovery process described next. At a minimum, be sure to practice the recovery of your servers at regular intervals and accurately document the details of the restoration process.

Before you attempt any sort of full server recovery, you must address a number of prerequisites:

  1. You must have a test server with characteristics that are “very similar” to the server that was fully backed up. Ideally, the test server should have hardware that is identical to the server that was backed up. Some differences can be tolerated fairly well, such as the test server possessing hard drives of greater capacity than those in the source (backup) server. Other differences are not tolerated at all, such as trying to restore an x64-based backup to x86-only hardware. As a rule of thumb, the greater the number and type of differences between the source server and the backup server, the greater the likelihood of encountering problems during recovery.

    Tip

    Virtual machines can be used to great effect when testing recovery plans. Windows Server 2008 includes Hyper-V for virtualization. If you are not familiar with Hyper-V, consider checking it out.


  2. You must possess account credentials that can be used to access the remote shared folder where the target server backup is stored.

  3. You must have access to a Windows Server 2008 installation DVD, a bootable installation thumb drive, or some other bootable mechanism that affords you access to the Windows RE. If you are attempting to recover an x64 environment, you must use the x64 version of the Windows RE. By the same token, x86 recoveries require the x86 Windows RE.

  4. Ensure that clustered shared volumes are neither the source nor the destination for any backup data.

If you have addressed these concerns, you are ready to proceed with recovery.

  1. Start your server and boot from the media containing the Windows RE. Your server should automatically go into the Windows Is Loading Files screen with a progress bar at the bottom shortly after booting. If this does not occur, or the server attempts to boot from another source (such as a residual hard drive image), you may need to access the one-time boot menu option that is commonly available on servers. Using such a boot menu allows you to specify the server’s boot location, be it a DVD, a USB location, or something else.

  2. After the server has booted from the desired media, you are presented with the Install Windows screen. Ensure that you select the desired installation language, time and currency formats, and input method before clicking the Next button to continue.

  3. You are presented with the window shown in Figure 1. Although the Install Now option is front and center in the window, the area of interest is in the lower-left portion of the window. Click on the Repair Your Computer link to continue.

    Figure 1. The Install Windows screen.
  4. You are presented with the System Recovery Options dialog box shown in Figure 2. Ensure that the Restore Your Computer Using a System Image That You Created Earlier option is selected, and click the Next button to continue.

    Figure 2. System Recovery Options.

  5. Neither an internal nor external hard drive containing a system image is attached to the server, so you are warned that a system image cannot be found on the computer. Click the Cancel button to dismiss the dialog box.

  6. Because a system image isn’t available locally, the only option that is available on the Re-Image Your Computer dialog box (shown in Figure 3) is Select a System Image. Click the Next button to continue.

    Figure 3. The Re-Image Your Computer dialog box.

  7. You are prompted to select the location of the backup you want to restore, as shown in Figure 4. Because you need to point the Windows RE at the remote share housing your system image, you need to click the Advanced button in the lower-left portion of the screen to guide the tool to a network-based image.

    Figure 4. Selecting a location containing the backup that is to be restored.

  8. The dialog box shown in Figure 5 appears. Select the Search for a System Image on the Network option to continue.

    Figure 5. Specifying a system image on the network.

    Note

    Although the Windows RE contains drivers for a significant number of network adapters, you may discover that you are unable to browse or specify a network location without first loading drivers for your server’s specific adapter or adapters. If this is the case, select the Install a Driver option and follow the instructions to load drivers for your network adapter or adapters before attempting to proceed.


  9. You are warned that connecting to a network may leave your server vulnerable, and you are asked to confirm the connection. Click the Yes button to confirm and continue.

  10. You are prompted to specify the network location where the system image that is used for restoration resides. As shown in Figure 6, specify the UNC path to the image that was previously created during the full server backup process, and click the OK button to continue.

    Figure 6. Supplying the UNC path to the recovery image.

  11. You are prompted to supply the credentials of the account you want to use when accessing the remote share specified in the previous step. Supply the username and password desired, ensuring that you include a domain qualifier (in the form of domain\username or username@domain) for the username if needed. Once you have supplied the credentials, click the OK button to continue.

  12. The backup location dialog box reappears, as shown in Figure 7. Provided the network location specified previously in step 10 contained a recognizable system image, the grid in the dialog box now contains a populated row. Ensure that the row is selected, and click the Next button to continue.

    Figure 7. Backup image available for recovery.

  13. You are prompted to select the date and time of the system image you want to restore. Because a remote shared folder can house only a single image per server, just one entry is available for selection, as shown in Figure 8. Select it and click the Next button to continue.

    Figure 8. Selecting the available system image.

  14. The restore options dialog appears, as shown in Figure 9. For a server with unformatted hard disks or with hard disks that do not have system volume information matching the system image that is being restored, the Format and Repartition Disks option is selected and grayed out as shown. Because a full recovery is being performed and it is desirable to restore all data volumes in addition to the system drives, ensure that the Only Restore System Drives check box remains unchecked. Click the Next button to continue.

    Figure 9. Choosing additional restore options.

    Note

    Similar to step 8, there is a possibility that you may have to load additional drivers for Windows RE to see all the hard drives attached to your system. If this is the case, click the Install Drivers button, and follow the instructions presented before attempting to advance from the Choose Additional Restore Options dialog box.


  15. A basic confirmation dialog box appears so that you can verify your recovery selections. Click the Finish button to continue with the recovery.

  16. A message box pops up to warn you of the impending hard drive reformatting. Click the Yes button to acknowledge the warning and continue.

  17. The recovery process begins, and a message box tracking the progress of the restoration appears, as shown in Figure 10. As stated in the message box, the recovery operation may take anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours. The amount of time taken depends on the amount of data to be restored, the speed of your network connection, the speed of your server’s hard drives, and a number of other factors.

    Figure 10. Tracking the progress of the recovery.

  18. Once the recovery operation has completed, the restart dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 11. If you take no action, the server automatically restarts after a minute and boots into the restored operating system.

    Figure 11. Restarting the server following recovery.

As stated earlier, full server recovery is an inexact science. If the recovery operation fails the first time for unforeseen reasons, consider trying it again with slightly different recovery parameters. Sometimes reformatting hard drives, restoring only the system drive on the first pass, or perhaps excluding an extra disk from within the restore options dialog box can make the difference between a restoration error and a successful recovery operation.

 
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