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Mike66350216
Asked: 2014-06-07 10:38:42 +0800 CST

Snapshot SBS or Single DC server environments

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I can't seem to find a clear answer on this.

Is it safe or not safe to snapshot (or in my case checkpoint under HV 2012) an SBS or single DC server environment? I took over an account and am behind on patches by about a year and would LOVE to be able to create a snapshot before doing this.

Thanks!

windows-server-2008

1 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    With a no-fooling, you seriously double-checked, please go check again, single DC forest, there's no AD replication, so there's few risks of restoring that single DC if everything goes bad. So, for that very specific purpose, taking a snapshot is not a terrible idea.

    There are always risks of retaining snapshots longer than x, where 'x' is usually considered 1 day, but may be much shorter depending on IO volume. So don't do that; snapshots are only for instant rollback or temporary storage of backup data destined for other, permanent media. As soon as the target guest has been confirmed OK, delete/consolidate that snapshot.

    You should also take a full backup using your normal method. A method that you have tested performing restores from, in case other things go pear-shaped. Because you have this method in place already, right?

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