Backing Up Servers

Published : September 27, 2005

Performing regular backups of servers is a recommended maintenance task. Although the purpose of DPM is to back up and restore data to file servers, DPM cannot protect itself or the operating systems and applications of the file servers. For a complete restore of a DPM server or file server, you must archive the system state. One approach to archiving system state is to use Backup, the backup software that is included with Windows Server 2003.

When you use Backup, you can create an Automated System Recovery (ASR) set. The ASR set includes a backup of the system state, system services, and all disks associated with the operating system components. The set also includes a startup disk that contains information about the backup and the disk configurations. Create a new ASR set regularly, and especially after any major change to the system.

For step-by-step instructions on restoring system state to DPM and file servers using ASR, see the “Using Data Protection Manager and Windows Backup” white paper (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=47057).

Warning

It is critical that, on the DPM server, you back up the volumes that contain the system files for DPM, SQL Server, and SQL Server Reporting Services. If there is a disaster in which only some of the DPM-required files are lost, you will need to restore the volumes with the necessary files before you can install or uninstall DPM.

For more information on archiving and restoring data on DPM and file servers, see “Archiving and Restoring Data” (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=46368) in this guide.