Backup server

Question

I have a 2008R2 server that does AD, sharepoint and file shares.  What I need to have to is if the main server goes offline a second server pick up where it left off. What is the a good solution for me?

 

Thanks

Answer 1

You have few options.

You could get second server and configure it with AD as second DC. Next you would need to configure SharePoint with log shipping or DB mirroring. Lastly you would need to set up DFS (distributed file system) to replicate your files to the second server.

What you are trying to achieve is pretty complex task. All will depends on how moch are you willing to spend and how much downtime can you tolerate.

Another option I would recommend is to create complete server snapshots at the regular intervals and store them on the server 2. Then in the case of disaster you could boot server 2 from the image.

If you have few more $ to spend creating VM out of your server will enable you to move VM image to new server very quickly.

Hope this give you general idea, if you need some specific details feel free to ask.

Regards

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Ivan Bondy - MCPD, MCDBA, MCSA, MCTS - Sharepoint consultant

Answer 2

Hi Kellyrt,

 

Firstly, we don’t recommend that you install SharePoint 2010 on a domain controller, which lead to single failure. For your situation, you need to back up Active Directory. For more information about Active Directory backup and restore, you can refer to the following articles:

 

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb727048.aspx

 

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa997537(EXCHG.65).aspx

 

Secondly, you need to back up SharePoint 2010, you can back up SharePoint at different level, such as farm, web application and site collection. For more information about SharePoint backup, you can refer to the following article:

 

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee428315.aspx

 

Hope this helps.

 

Rock Wang

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Regards, Rock Wang Microsoft Online Community Support