Restoring Windows Server 2008 (part 1) - Full Server Recovery

You must have a test server with characteristics that are “very similar” to the server that was fully backed up. Ideally, the test server should have hardware that is identical to the server that was backed up. Some differences can be tolerated fairly well, such as the test server possessing hard drives of greater capacity than those in the source (backup) server. Other differences are not tolerated at all, such as trying to restore an x64-based backup to x86-only hardware. As a rule of thumb, the greater the number and type of differences between the source server and the backup server, the greater the likelihood of encountering problems during recovery.

You must possess account credentials that can be used to access the remote shared folder where the target server backup is stored.

You must have access to a Windows Server 2008 installation DVD, a bootable installation thumb drive, or some other bootable mechanism that affords you access to the Windows RE. If you are attempting to recover an x64 environment, you must use the x64 version of the Windows RE. By the same token, x86 recoveries require the x86 Windows RE.

Ensure that clustered shared volumes are neither the source nor the destination for any backup data.

Start your server and boot from the media containing the Windows RE. Your server should automatically go into the Windows Is Loading Files screen with a progress bar at the bottom shortly after booting. If this does not occur, or the server attempts to boot from another source (such as a residual hard drive image), you may need to access the one-time boot menu option that is commonly available on servers. Using such a boot menu allows you to specify the server’s boot location, be it a DVD, a USB location, or something else.

After the server has booted from the desired media, you are presented with the Install Windows screen. Ensure that you select the desired installation language, time and currency formats, and input method before clicking the Next button to continue.

You are presented with the window shown in Figure 1. Although the Install Now option is front and center in the window, the area of interest is in the lower-left portion of the window. Click on the Repair Your Computer link to continue.

Figure 1. The Install Windows screen.

You are presented with the System Recovery Options dialog box shown in Figure 2. Ensure that the Restore Your Computer Using a System Image That You Created Earlier option is selected, and click the Next button to continue.

Neither an internal nor external hard drive containing a system image is attached to the server, so you are warned that a system image cannot be found on the computer. Click the Cancel button to dismiss the dialog box.

Because a system image isn’t available locally, the only option that is available on the Re-Image Your Computer dialog box (shown in Figure 3) is Select a System Image. Click the Next button to continue.

You are prompted to select the location of the backup you want to restore, as shown in Figure 4. Because you need to point the Windows RE at the remote share housing your system image, you need to click the Advanced button in the lower-left portion of the screen to guide the tool to a network-based image.

The dialog box shown in Figure 5 appears. Select the Search for a System Image on the Network option to continue.

Figure 5. Specifying a system image on the network.

You are warned that connecting to a network may leave your server vulnerable, and you are asked to confirm the connection. Click the Yes button to confirm and continue.

You are prompted to specify the network location where the system image that is used for restoration resides. As shown in Figure 6, specify the UNC path to the image that was previously created during the full server backup process, and click the OK button to continue.

You are prompted to supply the credentials of the account you want to use when accessing the remote share specified in the previous step. Supply the username and password desired, ensuring that you include a domain qualifier (in the form of domain\username or username@domain) for the username if needed. Once you have supplied the credentials, click the OK button to continue.

The backup location dialog box reappears, as shown in Figure 7. Provided the network location specified previously in step 10 contained a recognizable system image, the grid in the dialog box now contains a populated row. Ensure that the row is selected, and click the Next button to continue.

You are prompted to select the date and time of the system image you want to restore. Because a remote shared folder can house only a single image per server, just one entry is available for selection, as shown in Figure 8. Select it and click the Next button to continue.

The restore options dialog appears, as shown in Figure 9. For a server with unformatted hard disks or with hard disks that do not have system volume information matching the system image that is being restored, the Format and Repartition Disks option is selected and grayed out as shown. Because a full recovery is being performed and it is desirable to restore all data volumes in addition to the system drives, ensure that the Only Restore System Drives check box remains unchecked. Click the Next button to continue.

A basic confirmation dialog box appears so that you can verify your recovery selections. Click the Finish button to continue with the recovery.

A message box pops up to warn you of the impending hard drive reformatting. Click the Yes button to acknowledge the warning and continue.

The recovery process begins, and a message box tracking the progress of the restoration appears, as shown in Figure 10. As stated in the message box, the recovery operation may take anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours. The amount of time taken depends on the amount of data to be restored, the speed of your network connection, the speed of your server’s hard drives, and a number of other factors.

Once the recovery operation has completed, the restart dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 11. If you take no action, the server automatically restarts after a minute and boots into the restored operating system.