Topology
The Topology screen is where you can view a summary of your Active Directory forest.
Under the Forest Summary, you'll find the number of domains and domain controllers. It also displays the status and elapsed time of the latest run discovery.
On the Topology screen list, you can view:
- Domain Controller - the FQDN of the domain controller within the Active Directory forest.
- Domain - the FQDN of the domain within the Active Directory forest.
- Site - the name of the site in which the domain controller is located.
- DC Agent Status - the status of the Domain Controller Agent. The current Domain Controller Agent version and the available Domain Controller Agent version (if applicable) can be seen by hovering over each agent status. The agent statuses are:
- Online - the Domain Controller Agent is online and the latest version is installed.
- Outdated - the Domain Controller Agent is online and an older supported version is installed. Backup and recovery tasks will run, but an agent update to the latest version is strongly recommended.
- Not Supported - the Domain Controller Agent is installed and online but the version is not supported and requires an update. Backup, verification and recovery operations cannot be performed.
- Offline - the Domain Controller Agent is offline. The agent cannot be reached or is not installed.
- Installing - the Domain Controller Agent is being installed.
- Refreshing - the status of the Domain Controller Agent is being updated.
- Unknown - the status of the Domain Controller Agent has not been checked yet. Click the Refresh Agent Status button to view the latest Domain Controller Agent status.
On the Topology screen, you can take the following actions:
- Run Discovery - run a discovery for domains and domain controllers for the linked Active Directory forest.
- Refresh Agent Status - refresh the Domain Controller Agent status.
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NOTES:
- You can select a single or multiple domain controllers to refresh their status only.
- The agent status is automatically refreshed each time a backup is performed.
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Topology Discovery
Upon the creation of your environment, click Run Discovery to run a discovery for domains and domain controllers for the selected environment. To run a discovery, the user will need the Recovery for AD: Can Run Forest Topology permission. Go to the Roles and Permissions in On Demand page for more information. The status of the last run discovery is displayed at the top of the page. You can also view the list of domains and domain controllers associated with the environment, and can change the environment by using the drop down menu, and selecting the desired environment.
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NOTE: Topology will need to be manually re-discovered when a domain controller or domain configuration is changed on-premises. |
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Caution: Recovery Plans should be pre-created based on the latest topology to ensure full preparedness in case of a disaster. |
Installing a Domain Controller Agent
You can deploy a Domain Controller (DC) Agent on one or more domain controllers within the environment from the Disaster Recovery for Identity for Active Directory console. For more information on Domain Controller Agents, go to the About Domain Controller Agents and Hybrid Agents section in the Before You Start page.
To do this:
- On the Topology screen, select one or more domain controllers, and click Install Agent.
- Specify the credentials to install the Domain Controller Agent. You can use the credentials saved for the environment to install the DC Agents. These credentials must have Domain Administrator permissions to install the agent on the domain controller. This is enabled by default. For more on permissions, go to the Required permissions section in the Before You Start page. If you wish to use this option, click Install Agent. The Install Agent task will run and the Agent Status will change to Installing.
- If you wish to use different credentials to install the Domain Controller Agent, deselect the Use credentials saved for the environment checkbox, and input the required credentials. Then click Install Agent. The Install Agent task will run and the Agent Status will change to Installing.
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NOTES: If the installation fails, the agent status will be set to Offline. Go to the Tasks screen to view the reason for failure. |
Manual installation
You also have the option to install the agent manually. To do this:
- Download the Domain Controller Agent from the Environment card you are planning to install the Domain Controller Agent on.
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NOTE: Domain Controller Agent bundles are unique per On Demand for Active Directory environment. |
After the Domain Controller Agent installation has successfully been completed, the domain controller will have "Quest Forest Recovery Service" installed which is running as a Local System.
Once the agents have been installed on all desired domain controllers, you can now create a Backup Plan for your environment.
Backup Plans and Backups
Disaster Recovery for Identity for Active Directory is designed to scale efficiently in large, multi-domain environments. This solution provides excellent performance, creates backups for multiple computers in parallel, and is easily scalable to service additional domain controllers. Administrators can logically group domain controllers based on roles, location, or other criteria for easier management by creating different Backup Plans.
This product also utilizes Domain Controller Agents to streamline backup creation and application processes. This agent-based approach enhances scalability and reduces network overhead by compressing data before transmission and performing parallel backups for multiple domain controllers.
The Backup screen is where you can create and view Backup Plans and backups from each environment.
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