Recovery Manager for AD Forest Edition 10.3 - User Guide

Reports database files

The Online Restore Wizard provides comparison and restore reports based on per-attribute comparisons of directory objects selected from a backup, with their counterparts in Active Directory® or another backup.

RMAD incorporates Microsoft SQL® Reporting Services (SRS). Microsoft SRS is the new reporting standard, replacing the XML-based comparison and restore reports offered by previous versions. For more information, refer to the User Guide supplied with this release of RMAD.

The size of the reports database file depends on the following parameters:

• Number of the directory objects the Online Restore Wizard has processed.

• Number of the processed attributes.

• Type of the processed attributes.

• Number of the available Online Restore Wizard sessions. Note that the information on all sessions is stored in a single reports database file.

To estimate the reports database file size, use the following empiric formula:

6 x <Number of processed objects> / 1000 [MB]

For example, if the Online Restore Wizard has processed 3,000 objects, the reports database file size will be approximately 18 MB.

Best practices for creating backups

This section provides some best practices for backing up Active Directory® data using RMAD.

Develop a backup and restore plan

It is recommended to follow these rules to prevent Active Directory® failure:

• Use only reliable and tested hardware, such as hard disks and uninterruptible power supply.

• Test any new configuration in a test lab before deploying it in your production environment.

• Ensure that each domain in your Active Directory® forest has at least two domain controllers.

• Keep detailed logs about the health state of Active Directory® on a daily basis, so that in case of a forest wide failure you could identify the approximate failure time.

Determine which domain controllers to back up and how often

To perform an online restore of deleted or corrupted Active Directory® objects, it is recommended to back up at least two domain controllers in each domain for redundancy. If you intend to restore cross-domain group memberships, then it is also necessary to back up a global catalog server. The global catalog server backup must be created with the option When backing up Global Catalog servers, collect group membership information from all domains within the Active Directory forest enabled on the Advanced tab of the Computer Collection Properties dialog box.

It is recommended that you back up your domain controllers on at least a daily basis. In any case, back up all domain controllers each time you make important changes to your environment.