Quick DC question 1

[jschweg]

I just have a quick disaster recovery question concerning DC's. If I have 2 DC's and one of them goes down, is this the best process I would take to get everything restored?

1) Seize any FSMO roles that the crashed DC held to the other DC.

2) Delete the crashed DC from the Domain Controllers section of AD

3) Replace the machine and join it to the domain as a DC

I know this is a simple question, but I'm trying to get all my ducks in a row as far as disaster recovery is concerned.

 

[markdmac]

You are correct.

I'd also do a metabase cleanup just to be safe. You will find details in my FAQ within this forum. There is a script that will do the metabase cleanup painlessly for you at the end of the FAQ.

I hope you find this post helpful. Please let me know if it was.

Regards,

Mark

 

[Stevehewitt]

Yeah spot on, just make sure that replication occurs often enought if your AD gets changed / updated reguarly.

Steve.

 

[mlichstein]

Just to weigh in here...you MUST do a metadata cleanup. The steps you listed in your initial post are not sufficient to remove a failed DC from the domain.

 

[jschweg]

Excellent, thanks again for the help.

The Metadata cleanup you mention, I haven't actually ever heard of this, I'll have to check it out.

Mark, do you have alink for that FAQ of yours?

 

[jschweg]

Nevermind, I failed to notice the gigantic button labeled "FAQ"

I see it now.

 

[jschweg]

One other quick question....

If the DC didn't crash, and rather I just wanted to remove it by demoting it to a member server, would I still have to use this metadata cleanup?

My guess would be no.

 

[mlichstein]

You're correct, the answer is no.

 

[jschweg]

Okay, LAST question.

Is the "Metadata Cleanup" found in ntdsutil the same thing as the metadata cleaner vbs file that is mentioned in the faq for this forum?

I'm really glad I asked this question now, I had no idea that this process was any more involved than right clicking on the crashed DC from the Domain Controllers section in Active Directory User and Computers and deleting it.

Thanks a lot for all of your help.

 

[markdmac]

You are correct. The script Microsoft gave me does the same job, only it saves you 20 minutes of work and takes the "scare" out of the process.

I hope you find this post helpful. Please let me know if it was.

Regards,

Mark

 

[jschweg]

Yes, very helpful.