How to recover an almost crashed down DC

  • Thread starter Thread starter Alex
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A

Alex

Hi everybody !!

I have a major problem with one of my 2 SCSI HDD on my DC
Root (second disk seems to be ok)!

The HDD will soon stop working properly but the OS is
still working "almost" properly.

Here's my problem : my AD files are on both SCSI HDD as
recommended for better performance. My 1st one is teh
system one, second is data + sysvol tree.

My question is : what's the best way to restore my DC
Root ?

- Should I reinstall the OS (Win2k Server SP3) on a new
HDD in the same machine, then, do a DC Promo, start in AD
recovery mode and use my system state backup and then
reboot and let DCs synchronize between themselves ?
- or should I "simply" reinstall the OS on a new SCSI
HDD, "DCPromo" my server offline and then put it online on
the network and let DCs synchronize themselves ?

I'm not quite sure what's the best way to recover a fully
operational DC Root as this is the first time it happens
to me !

BTW : other servers are :

- Windows 2000 Server SP3 Exchange 2000 SP2
- Windows 2000 Server SP3 IIS 5 + FTP Server
- Windows 2000 Server SP3 SharePoint Portal Server SP2.

All of them are DCs.
No problem with AD synchronization.

I managed to do a full backup of my DCRoot but I suspect
that many data are corrupted since I have many Re
indexation at each reboot and tests through my SCSI
controller signal many defective clusters !

Help and suggestion would be much appreciated !
Thanks in advance !

Alex.
 
Are any of the other servers Global Catalog? Also who holds the FSMO roles?
I would transfer the roles to another machine, make sure one of the other
DC's is a GC, Re-install the server, promote to DC, Let AD synchronize,
Transfer FSMO roles back.

hth,
aaron
 
"aaron" <[email protected]> a écrit dans le message de

Hi Aaron !

First of all thanks for your prompt answer (and Mark Mancini too) !
Are any of the other servers Global Catalog?
Click to expand...

Yes, my Exchange Server is a GC.
Also who holds the FSMO roles?
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, the server with the crippled HDD... :-((
I would transfer the roles to another machine,
Click to expand...

Well, let' say the Exchange server !?
It's powerful enough to sustain temporarily these roles anyway...
make sure one of the other
DC's is a GC,
Click to expand...

Yep !! One is, so I don't think it's necessary to set another DC as a GC
holder since I don't have slow links or thousands of users !

Re-install the server, promote to DC, Let AD synchronize,
OK.

Transfer FSMO roles back.
Click to expand...

Have you already done this kind of manipulation ?
It's quite easy to do in command lines, but what's the feedback !?
Does it work properly most of the time ? Any advice ?

To me this scenario would be the best one since I'm not quite sure of the
one suggested by Mark Mancini upper in this thread due to possible corrupted
data in my backup ! Furthermore, I noticed some small problems on my root
server, things not very important but that would require some manipulation
to solve with no guaranteed outcome...
So a clean and full reinstall of the server sounds better to me.

Thanks for your advice and answers to the questions asked upper !

Phil.
 
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