How to Backup Active Directory - By: Musarrat Sheikh

Description : Most network environments rely on active directories up to a certain level. Some of the components of a network environment that rely on active directories include service accounts and applications, user accounts and their associated mailbox exchange properties, group policy objects that are responsible for controlling PC behavior and the infrastructure components. Active directories are charged with the responsibility of ensuring that all relevant materials and fields are replicated thoroughly. Despite the presence of active directories, it is extremely important to learn how to backup active directory so that you have an offline backup somewhere for all your vital materials.

Most people however prefer to bury their heads in the sand and assume that all is well and that they cannot require a system restoration of such magnitude. This however doesn't work in most cases as viral infections are all over especially for those who frequent the net or those who have a tendency of using flash drives to transfer files. It is important to consult properly on active directory backup environment in case you suffer a disastrous viral attack. The overall process of backing up the active directory environment is pretty easy as all tools have been included in windows operating system.

Even the lowly NTBackup has a very important function as concerns the enterprise environment. One of these purposes is the snapshotting of the active directory environment. It is important to ensure that the backup system has a plug in to backup active directory so as to save time during the actual recovery process. Ideally, you need to start off by establishing a point from where to actually do the recovery. Have two domain controllers' backups one of which should base its operations from a server that has the role of master operations. This server should not be the RID master as this should never be restored. You will need media that you can write on to. Ensure that the media that you are going to use as you go about backing up active directory doesn't require other services or software's in order to be read.

Some of the best media for writing active directories have been identified as being the flash drives. This is principally because; you do not need to carry out a point in time restoration. Flash drives are very effective in this endeavor. If you are concerned about security risks where cyber criminals may attempt to access your corporation's vital information, you can opt to use an encrypted flash drive. A good source of encrypted flash drives is those produced by Ironkey. In case you are still wondering how to create backup for your active directory, here is one command that you are required to run.

You might need to install windows server backup if you don't have it especially those on windows 2008 systems. Once you have the backup in your system, you will have to learn how to backup your active directory from this source. Come up with a standalone server. Use the same operating system as the backup. Install the windows server backup; ensure that the backup file is placed safely in your servers file system. Next, reboot the server and key in F8. Select the directory restore mode option and proceeds with the restore.

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Author Resource : This article touched the basics of the topic. I have 2 more resources related to the above. They are active directory and how to backup active directory. They are worth a read.