Windows Server Backup Feature Overview

Applies To: Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2012

This topic provides information about the Windows Server Backup feature.

Did you know that Microsoft Azure provides similar functionality in the cloud? Learn more about Microsoft Azure storage solutions. Create a hybrid storage solution in Microsoft Azure: — Configure Azure Backup to prepare for back up of Windows Server

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Feature description

Windows Server Backup is a feature that provides a set of wizards and other tools for you to perform basic backup and recovery tasks for the server it is installed on.

Practical applications

You can use Windows Server Backup to back up a full server (all volumes), selected volumes, the system state, or specific files or folders—and to create a backup that you can use for bare metal recovery. You can recover volumes, folders, files, certain applications, and the system state. And, in case of disasters like hard disk failures, you can perform a bare metal recovery. (To do this, you will need a backup of the full server or just the volumes that contain operating system files, and the Windows Recovery Environment—this will restore your complete system onto your old system or a new hard disk.)You can use Windows Server Backup to create and manage backups for the local computer or a remote computer. And, you can schedule backups to run automatically. Windows Server Backup is intended for use by everyone who needs a basic backup solution—from small business to large enterprises—but is even suited for smaller organizations or individuals who are not IT professionals.

Windows Server Backup cannot guarantee Volume Shadow Copy (VSS) snapshots are retained. In certain situations, after restoring to a new volume, the VSS snapshots may no longer be recognized and appear inaccessible. To guarantee protection of a VSS snapshot, mount the VSS snapshot, and run a backup job on that snapshot.

New and changed functionality

The following functionality has been changed or added to Windows Server Backup in Windows Server 2012:

Feature/functionality	Previous operating system	New operating system
Backup and restore of individual virtual machines from a Hyper-V host server.	Virtual machines were backed up as part of a volume backup. They could not be backed up or restored separately.	When you select items to backup or recover you can now select individual virtual machines to include in the backup and to restore from a recovery point.
Improvements to managing backup versions and backup retention	Space and version management was not available. Windows Server Backup used space as needed.	If you are backing up to a hard disk or volume you can specify a deletion policy to determine whether backups should be deleted only when necessary to make space for additional backups or if they should be deleted after a certain number of backups have passed.
Ability to backup volumes greater than 2 terabytes (TB) and with 4 K sector sizes.	Backups of volumes greater than 2 TB was not supported and 512 byte sectors were required.	Backup can now support larger volumes and hard drive sectors.
Support for backup of Cluster Shared Volumes (CSVs)	Backups of CSVs was not supported.	Limited support for backing up CSVs as follows: 1. Virtual machines hosted on CSV’s cannot be added as part of backup configuration 2. Windows Server Backup has to be configured on all nodes to ensure that backup and recovery will be available in the event of a failure on one of the nodes in the cluster. 3. Volumes recovery not supported 4. Security access control lists are not applicable on CSV file service root. Therefore, file recovery to the root of CSV volume is not supported.
Reporting system state components.	Win32 service files were reported by the System Writer as part of the System Component and were included in the system state backup for both client and server operating systems.	Win32 service files are not reported by the System Writer as part of the System Component for Windows Server 2012. Win32 service files are reported by the System Writer as part of the System Component for Windows 8. To include or exclude the Win32 service files in the system state of your computers, set the value of the registry key HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\SystemWriter\ReportWin32ServicesNonSystemState. — To include the Win32 service files set the value to 0. — To exclude the Win32 service files set the value to 1 On the server operating system, deleting this registry key is equivalent to setting it to 1 and causes Win32 Service files to be excluded from System Writer’s system component specifications. On the client operating system, deleting this registry key is equivalent to setting it to 0 and causes Win32 Service files to be included in System Writer’s system component specifications.

Optimizing Backup and Server Performance

For information on how to improve performance of backups, which can improve server performance, see Optimizing Backup and Server Performance.

Virtual Machine Support

Windows Server Backup can be used within a virtual machine environment in the same manner that it is used on a physical server to provide backup and recovery services. It can also be used from within a Windows Azure virtual machine for Bare Metal Backup & Recovery, System State Backup & Recovery, File Folder Backup and recovery.

More information

For more information about backing up or recovering computers using Storage Spaces, see Windows Server Backup and Storage Pools

For more information about backing up or recovering computers running Active Directory Domain Services, see Administering Active Directory Backup and Recovery.

For more information about backing up computers running Hyper-V, see Planning for Backup.

How to use the backup feature to back up and restore data

This step-by-step article describes how to use the Backup feature to back up and restore data on your Windows Server 2003-based computer.

Original product version: В Windows Server 2003
Original KB number: В 326216

Summary

This article is intended for users who back up and restore data, and it includes information about how to back up and restore the system configuration and local registry.

To perform the procedures in this article, you must be logged on as a member of the Administrators group or the Backup Operators group.

Backing up the server

You can manually back up data or use the Backup Wizard, which is included in the Backup feature. You can back up the whole contents of the server, selected portions of the server, or the system state data (the system configuration information).

To back up selected files or folders

Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Backup. The Backup or Restore Wizard starts.

Click Advanced Mode.

Click the Backup tab.

On the Job menu, click New.

Expand the drive or folder that contains the items that you want to back up. Click to select the check boxes next to the files, folders, or drives that you want to back up.

In the Backup destination box, specify the destination for the new job. To do so, do one of the following:

• If you want to back up files and folders to a file, click File.
• If you want to back up to tape, click a tape device.

If a tape device is not connected to your computer, File is the only backup media type that is available in the Backup destination box.

In the Backup media or file name box, do one of the following:

• If you’re backing up to a file, specify a path and file name for the backup (.bkf) file. Or, click Browse, specify a file name and location where you want to save the file, and then click Save.
• If you’re backing up to tape, click the tape that you want to use.

On the Tools menu, click Options. Specify any additional backup options that you want on the appropriate tabs of the Options page. Click OK.

Click Start Backup.

If you want to set advanced backup options, such as data verification or hardware compressions, click Advanced. Specify the options that you want, and then click OK.

Review the settings on the Backup Job Information page. Specify whether you want this backup to replace the information that is already present on the destination media, or add this backup to the existing information.

Click Start Backup.

To back up the system state (including registry settings)

To back up the system state (including the registry hives system, software, security, the Security Accounts Manager (SAM), and the default user (but not HKEY_CURRENT_USER)), follow these steps:

Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Backup. The Backup or Restore Wizard starts.

Click Advanced Mode.

Click the Backup tab.

On the Job menu, click New.

Click to select the System State check box.

Click to select the check boxes next to any other files, folders, or drives that you want to back up.

In the Backup destination box, specify the destination for the new job. To do so, do one of the following:

• If you want to back up files and folders to a file, click File.
• If you want to back up to tape, click a tape device.

If a tape device is not connected to your computer, File is the only backup media type that is available in the Backup destination box.

In the Backup media or file name box, do one of the following:

• If you are backing up to a file, specify a path and file name for the backup (.bkf) file. Or, click Browse, specify a file name and location where you want to save the file, and then click Save.
• If you are backing up to tape, click the tape that you want to use.

On the Tools menu, click Options. Specify any additional backup options that you want on the appropriate tabs of the Options page. Click OK.

Click Start Backup.

If you want to set advanced backup options, such as data verification or hardware compressions, click Advanced. Specify the options that you want, and then click OK.

Review the settings on the Backup Job Information page. Specify whether you want this backup to replace the information that is already present on the destination media, or add this backup to the existing information.

Click Start Backup.

To schedule a backup for a later time or date

You may want to run a backup operation when there’s low system usage. However, such times may be late at night or on weekends. You can schedule backup jobs to run on a particular day and time.

To schedule a backup operation, the Task Scheduler service must be running.

Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Backup. The Backup or Restore Wizard starts.

Click Advanced Mode.

Click the Backup tab.

On the Job menu, click New.

Expand the drive or folder that contains the items that you want to back up. Click to select the check boxes next to the files, folders, or drives that you want to back up.

In the Backup destination box, specify the destination for the new job. To do so, do one of the following:

• If you want to back up files and folders to a file, click File.
• If you want to back up to tape, click a tape device.

If a tape device is not connected to your computer, File is the only backup media type that is available in the Backup destination box.

In the Backup media or file name box, do one of the following:

• If you’re backing up to a file, specify a path and file name for the backup (.bkf) file. Or, click Browse, specify a file name and location where you want to save the file, and then click Save.
• If you’re backing up to tape, click the tape that you want to use.

On the Tools menu, click Options. Specify any additional backup options that you want on the appropriate tabs of the Options page. Click OK.

Click Start Backup.

If a message prompts you to save your current backup selections, click OK. On the Save As page that appears, specify a name and location where you want to save the backup, and then click Save.

In the Job name box, type a name for the scheduled backup job, and then click Properties.

Click the Schedule tab. In the Schedule Task box, click how frequently you want the backup job to run, and then in the Start time box, specify a time when you want the backup to run, and then click OK.

On the Set Account Information page that appears, type a user name and password of the user whom you want to run the scheduled backup for, and then click OK.

The backup job that you scheduled appears on the calendar on the Schedule Jobs tab. The scheduled backup job automatically starts at the time and data that you specified.

Close the Backup Utility page.

To back up data by using the Backup Wizard

Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Backup. The Backup or Restore Wizard starts.

Click Advanced Mode.

On the Welcome tab, click Backup Wizard (Advanced). The Backup Wizard starts. Click Next.

Specify what you want to back up, and then click Next.

If you selected Back up selected files, drives, or network data in step 4, expand the drive or folder that contains the items that you want to back up, click to select the check boxes next to the drive, folder, or file that you want to back up, and then click Next.

Specify the backup type, destination, and name in the appropriate boxes, and then click Next.

If a tape drive isn’t connected to your computer, File is the only backup media type that is available in the Select the backup type box.

Review the settings that appear on the Completing the Backup Wizard page. If you want to specify advanced backup options, click Advanced, specify the options that you want, and then click OK.

Restoring data to the server

If a data loss occurs, you can restore your backup data manually or by using the Restore Wizard, which is included in the Backup feature.

To restore selected files from a file or tape

Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Backup. The Backup or Restore Wizard starts.

Click Advanced Mode.

Click the Restore and Manage Media tab.

Click the media that you want to restore, and then click to select the check boxes next to the drives, folders, or files that you want to restore.

In the Restore file to box, specify the location where you want to restore the files by doing one of the following:

If you want to restore the files or folders to the same location in which they were when you backed up the data, click Original location, and then go to step 7.

If you want to restore the files or folders to a new location, click Alternate location.

This option preserves the folder structure of the backed-up data.

If you want to restore the files and folders to a single location, click Single folder.

If you selected Alternate location or Single folder, type the location in which you want the data to be restored, or click Browse and select the location, and then click OK.

On the Tools menu, click Options. Click the Restore tab, specify the restore option that you want, and then click OK.

Click Start Restore.

On the Confirm Restore page that appears, click Advanced if you want to set advanced restore options, and then click OK.

Click OK to start the restore operation.

To restore the system state data (including registry information)

Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Backup. The Backup or Restore Wizard starts.

Click Advanced Mode.

Click the Restore and Manage Media tab.

In the Items to restore box, expand the media that you want to restore, and then click to select the System State check box.

Click to select the check boxes next to any other drives, folders, or files that you want to restore.

In the Restore file to box, specify the location where you want to restore the files by doing one of the following:

• If you want to restore the files or folders to the same location in which they were when you backed up the data, click Original location, and then go to step 8.
• If you want to restore the files or folders to a new location, click Alternate location. This option preserves the folder structure of the backed-up data.
• If you want to restore the files and folders to a single location, click Single folder.

If you do not designate an alternate location for the restored data, the restore operation erases the current system state data and replaces it with the information that you are restoring.

If you selected Alternate location or Single folder, type the location in which you want the data to be restored, or click Browse and select the location.

Click Start Restore.

On the Confirm Restore page that appears, click Advanced if you want to set advanced restore options, and then click OK.

Click OK to start the restore operation.

To restore backed up data by using the Restore Wizard

1. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Backup. The Backup or Restore Wizard starts.
2. Click Advanced Mode.
3. On the Welcome tab, click Restore Wizard (Advanced). The Restore Wizard starts. Click Next.
4. In the Items to restore box, expand the media that you want to restore, click to select the check boxes next to the drives, folders, or files that you want to restore, and then click Next.
5. Review the settings that appear on the Completing the Restore Wizard page. If you want to specify advanced backup options, click Advanced, specify the options that you want, and then click OK.
6. Click Finish.

Troubleshooting

You can’t back up or restore data

You must be a member of the Administrators group or the Backup Operators group on the local computer to back up or restore data.

You can’t schedule a backup operation

The Task Scheduler service must be running before you can schedule a backup. If the Task Scheduler service isn’t already running, follow these steps to start it:

1. Click Start, and then click Run.
2. In the Open box, type cmd, and then click OK.
3. At the command prompt, type net start schedule, and then press ENTER.

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