Backup and restoration can mean different things to different organizations. In this documentation, the concepts and principles presented are based on the following definitions:

• Backup.A duplicate copy of a program, a disk, or data, made either for archiving purposes or for safeguarding valuable files from loss in case the active copy is damaged or destroyed. For Office Communications Server 2007 R2, this includes both data and settings (including global settings, pool-level settings and computer-level settings). You should establish the method and frequency of backing up data and settings based on the level of criticality of the data. You should also consider the business continuity requirements of your organization..
  
  
• Restoration of service.The process of bringing service back online in the event of a loss of a database, server, pool, or site due to corruption, failure, or disaster. You can restore service by either recovering data and settings or rebuilding the component in order to make functionality available to users. The procedures you choose should be consistent with the business continuity requirements of your organization.
  
  

This document presents the step-by-step guidance that you need to back up and restore your Office Communications Server 2007 R2 deployments. You can use this document as a template or starting point for creating a backup and restoration plan for your organization, tailoring it to make the information specific to the servers in your topology. You can also identify the procedures you want to use for backing up data and settings and restoring service.

Multiple tools and programs are available for backing up and restoring data, settings, and systems. This document focuses on the use of tools and programs that are provided with Office Communications Server 2007 R2, as well as components that are available in the Microsoft SQL Server 2008 database software and SQL Server 2005 with Service Pack 2 (SP2), including SQL Server 2005 Express Edition with SP2 for Standard Edition servers.

Note:

This document covers backup and restoration of Office Communications Server 2007 R2 components, including data and settings. It does not cover backup and restoration of the operating system or other programs. For details about backing up and restoring the Windows Server 2003 operating system, see “Recovery and Reliability Technologies in the Windows Server 2003 Technical Reference at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=144535 and the Windows Server 2008 Backup and Recovery documentation at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=144537 .

Before you start deployment, use the Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Planning and Architecturedocumentation to determine your deployment options and strategy. It provides an in-depth discussion of planning considerations and guidance for designing your Office Communications Server 2007 R2 topology, including planning information for backup and restoration.

The procedures in this guide are arranged into steps. You should complete the steps of each procedure in the sequence shown.

The process of backing up and restoring services may require you to perform some tasks that are described in detail in other documents. For instance, reinstalling an operating system is not covered in this guide, because backup and restoration procedures for an operating system are covered in the operating system documentation. Each section of this document that contains procedures that are dependent on other backup or recovery information provides cross references to the required information.

The Planning and Architecturedocumentation, as well as the other Office Communications Server 2007 R2 documentation, is available from the Office Communications Server Web site at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=133608 .