To restore service on any Office Communications Server 2007 R2 server, you first need to set up the hardware and software. This can include any of the following:

The information required to complete some of the steps in the procedures in this section, such as how to install and configure the operating system and how to deploy, back up, or restore Active Directory Domain Services are beyond the scope of this document. The procedures in this section include the high-level steps, but you should use the deployment plan of your organization and appropriate product documentation to complete those steps. The appropriate Office Communications Server 2007 R2 deployment documentation includes the following:

Office Communications Server 2007 R2 documentation is available from the Office Communications Server Web site at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=144539 .

Preparing to Use the Hardware and Software of an Existing Server for Database Recovery

On a server on which an RTC database or LCSLog database resides, loss of service can be caused by database corruption, which probably requires only restoration of data to the database. If this is the case, use the following procedure to verify that the operating system and programs installed on the server are operating as they should before you proceed with a database restoration.

To prepare to use the hardware and software of an existing server for database recovery

  1. Log on to the server as a member of the Administrators group.

  2. Verify that the required services are running.

  3. Check Event Viewer to ensure that there are no errors that indicate that you should not use the current operating system or other programs (including Office Communications Server 2007 R2).

  4. Verify that you can open SQL Server 2005 Express Edition with SP2 (for a Standard Edition server) or SQL Server 2008 or SQL Server 2005 with SP2 (for the back-end server of an Enterprise pool or any other database used by Office Communications Server 2007 R2), and that no software problems are indicated, other than the unavailability or corruption of the RTC or LCSLog database. If problems exist that you cannot resolve, uninstall and reinstall the appropriate SQL Server software.

Next Steps

If the server and the software running on it appear to be operable, except for the availability of data in the database, proceed with database restoration, using the information in the “Restoring Databases” section in Restoring Data, as appropriate.

If you determine that the server on which the database resides is not operating correctly or that it is not a stable platform for restoring the database, set up the server platform by using one of the other three procedures in this section:

  • Recover an existing server by reinstalling and configuring Office Communications Server 2007 R2.

  • Reinstall an existing server by reinstalling and configuring the operating system and all other software, including Office Communications Server 2007 R2.

  • Rebuild a server on new hardware, including installing and configuring the operating system and all other software.

Recovering an Existing Server

If you determine that a server loss is the result of corruption of Office Communications Server 2007 R2 software and you want to restore service without reinstalling all server software (such as the operating system), it may be possible to restore service by uninstalling and reinstalling only Office Communications Server 2007 R2, and then restoring data and settings as appropriate. Use the following procedure to recover an existing server without reinstalling the operating system and other programs.

To recover an existing server by reinstalling Office Communications Server 2007 R2

  1. Log on to the server as a member of the Administrators group.

  2. Verify that the required services are running.

  3. Check Event Viewer to ensure that there are no errors that indicate that you should not use the current operating system or other programs (other than Office Communications Server 2007 R2).

  4. Obtain the deployment plan for your organization that specifies how the server was originally set up. That plan should provide information about the configuration of the server, including the initial configuration of Office Communications Server 2007 R2, which you need to complete the reinstallation of the software.

  5. Log on to the server to be recovered or a separate computer (such as a management console) as a member of the RTCUniversalServerAdmins group or a group with equivalent user rights.

  6. Deactivate Office Communications Server 2007 R2. Open the Office Communications Server 2007 R2 snap-in, right-click the name of the server, point to Deactivate, and then click the server.

  7. Open Services and verify that no services with a name that begins with "Office Communications Server" are running.

  8. Uninstall Office Communications Server 2007 R2 on the server to be recovered.

  9. Verify that all installation prerequisites have been met.

  10. Verify that you can access SQL Server (SQL Server 2005 Express Edition with SP2 for a Standard Edition server, or either SQL Server 2008 or SQL Server 2005 with SP2 for the back-end server of an Enterprise pool and any other database servers required by Office Communications Server for your deployment), and that no software problems are indicated, other than the unavailability or corruption of any required database, on each database server. If other problems exist that you cannot resolve, uninstall and reinstall the appropriate SQL Server software as follows:

    • If you are rebuilding a Standard Edition server, reinstall Office Communications Server 2007 R2, which will reinstall SQL Server 2005 Express Edition with SP2.

    • If you are rebuilding a back-end server in an Enterprise pool, install SQL Server 2008 or SQL Server 2005 with SP2.

    • If you are rebuilding any other database required by Office Communications Server 2007 R2 for your deployment, install SQL Server 2008 or SQL Server 2005 with SP2.

  11. Reinstall Office Communications Server 2007 R2 on the server (as appropriate to the server role to be recovered), completing the setup of all required software, including configuring certificates, starting services, and validating services. You do not need to set up user accounts as part of the basic setup of server platforms, as the restoration of user accounts is described in the procedures in Reassigning Users.

Next Steps

If the server and the software running on it appear to be operable, except for the lack of Office Communications Server 2007 R2 data and settings, proceed with restoration of the server. Use the appropriate procedures in this guide in the following sequence:

  1. Install restoration tools by using the information in Installing Restoration Tools.

  2. If the server to which service is being restored is a database server, restore the database by using the information in the “Restoring Databases” section in Restoring Data.

  3. If required in an Enterprise pool, re-create the Enterprise pool by using the information in Re-Creating Enterprise Pools.

  4. Restore settings by using the information in the applicable sections of this document:

  5. If required, reassign users by using the information in Reassigning Users.

  6. If loss of service included loss of Active Directory Domain Services, restore Active Directory information by using the information in Restoring Domain Information.

If you determine that the server is not operating correctly or is not a stable platform, set up the server platform using the appropriate procedures in the following sections of this guide to do one of the following:

  • Reinstall an existing server by reinstalling and configuring the operating system and all other software, including Office Communications Server 2007 R2.

  • Rebuild a server on new hardware, including installing and configuring the operating system and all other software.

  • Restore service from standby servers.

Reinstalling an Existing Server

If you determine that a server loss requires reinstallation of the operating system and other software, and you want to use the same hardware for the deployment, use the following procedure to install and configure the operating system and other software.

To reinstall the operating system and all software on an existing server

  1. Obtain the deployment plan for your organization that specifies how the server was originally set up. This plan should provide information about the configuration of the server, including the configuration of the operating system, Office Communications Server 2007 R2, and other programs, which you need to complete the reinstallation of the software.

  2. Verify that all deployment prerequisites have been met.

  3. Verify that the environment is set up to support the existing server, including preparing Active Directory Domain Services , configuring DNS, configuring certificates, setting up load balancers, and configuring routing and other infrastructure components, as applicable (such as would be required if you use a different server names or IP addresses for the new server).

  4. Install and configure the operating system and all required software, such as SQL Server 2008 or SQL Server 2005 with SP2 on a back-end server of an Enterprise pool or on each other database server in your Office Communications Server 2007 R2 deployment (excluding the database on a Standard Edition server), by using the information in the backup and restoration plan and deployment plans of your organization.

  5. Install and configure Office Communications Server 2007 R2 (Standard Edition or Enterprise Edition, as appropriate) and all other required software, as well as configuring certificates, starting services, and validating services. You do not need to set up user accounts as part of the basic setup, as the recovery of user accounts is covered by the procedures in Reassigning Users.

Next Steps

After successfully reinstalling the operating system and all required software, including Office Communications Server 2007 R2 and the appropriate version of SQL Server, if applicable, proceed with restoration of the server using the appropriate procedures later in this guide in the following sequence:

  1. Install restoration tools by using the information in Installing Restoration Tools.

  2. If the server to which service is being restored is a database server, restore the database by using the information in the “Restoring Databases” section of Restoring Data.

  3. If required in an Enterprise pool, re-create the Enterprise pool by using the information in Re-Creating Enterprise Pools.

  4. Restore settings by using the information in the applicable section of this guide:

  5. If required, reassign users by using the information in Reassigning Users.

  6. If loss of service included loss of Active Directory Domain Services, restore Active Directory information by using the information in Restoring Domain Information.

If you determine that the server cannot be made to operate correctly (that is, to provide a stable platform) due to hardware problems that cannot be resolved, set up the server on a new platform. Use the procedures in the following sections of this guide to do one of the following:

  • Rebuild a server on new hardware, including installing and configuring the operating system and all other software.

  • Restore service from standby servers.

Rebuilding a Server on New Hardware

If you determine that rebuilding a server on new hardware is appropriate, use the following procedure to rebuild the server on new hardware.

To rebuild a server on new hardware

  1. Obtain the deployment plan for your organization that specifies how the server was originally set up. This plan should provide information about the configuration of the server, including the configuration of the operating system, Office Communications Server 2007 R2, and other programs, which you need to complete the reinstallation of the software.

  2. Verify that all deployment prerequisites have been met.

  3. Set up hardware for each server to be built, including the computer, network cards, and any additional cards specified in your deployment plan.

  4. Set up the environment to support the new server, including preparing Active Directory Domain Services, configuring DNS, configuring certificates, setting up load balancers and configuring routing, and other infrastructure components, as applicable (such as would be required if you use a different server names or IP addresses for the new server).

  5. Install and configure the operating system and all required software, such as SQL Server 2008 or SQL Server 2008 with SP2 (only on a back-end server of an Enterprise pool or other database server required by any optional components in your Office Communications Server 2007 R2 deployment), by using the information in the backup and restoration plan and deployment plan of your organization.

  6. Install and configure Office Communications Server 2007 R2 (Standard Edition or Enterprise Edition, as appropriate) and all other required software, as well as configuring certificates, starting services, and validating services. You do not need to set up user accounts as part of the basic setup, as the recovery of user accounts is covered by the procedures in Reassigning Users.

Next Steps

After successfully rebuilding the server on new hardware, including installing the operating system, Office Communications Server 2007 R2, the appropriate version of SQL Server, if applicable, and all other required software, proceed with restoration of the server. Use the appropriate procedures in this guide in the following sequence:

  1. Install restoration tools by using the information in Installing Restoration Tools.

  2. If the server to which service is being restored is a database server, restore the database by using the information in the “Restoring Databases” section in Restoring Data.

  3. If required in an Enterprise pool, re-create the Enterprise pool by using the information in Re-Creating Enterprise Pools.

  4. Restore settings by using the information in the applicable section of this documentation:

  5. If required, reassign users by using the information in Reassigning Users.

  6. If loss of service included loss of Active Directory Domain Services, restore Active Directory information by using the information in Restoring Domain Information.

  7. In the case of loss of a site, complete the restoration by using the information in Restoring Sites.

Building Standby Servers

If your organization’s backup and restoration strategy includes the use of a separate, secondary site to facilitate recovery in the event of failure, you need to set up the required standby servers.

To deploy one or more standby servers at a secondary site, use the following procedure to build each standby server required by your organization’s backup and restoration strategy.

To build a standby server

  1. Obtain the deployment plan for your organization that specifies how the standby server is to be set up. This should be the same as the way the existing server is set up. This plan should provide information about the configuration of the server, including the configuration of the operating system, Office Communications Server 2007 R2, and other programs, which you need to complete the reinstallation of the software.

  2. Verify that all deployment prerequisites have been met.

  3. Set up hardware for each standby server to be built, including the computer, network cards, and any additional cards specified in your deployment plan.

  4. Set up the environment to support the new server, including preparing Active Directory Domain Services, configuring DNS, configuring certificates, setting up load balancers, and configuring routing and other infrastructure components, as applicable (such as would be required if you use a different server names or IP addresses for the new server).

  5. Install and configure the operating system and all required software, such as SQL Server 2008 or SQL Server 2005 with SP2 (only on a back-end server of an Enterprise pool or database required for any optional component in your Office Communications Server 2007 R2 deployment), by using the information in the backup and restoration plan and deployment plan of your organization.

  6. Install and configure Office Communications Server 2007 R2 (Standard Edition or Enterprise Edition, as appropriate) and all other required software, as well as configuring certificates, starting services, and validating services. The standby server should not be configured with the same pool name as the original server, as described in Setting Up a Secondary Site.

  7. Install restoration tools on the standby server by using the information in Installing Restoration Tools.

Next Steps

If your organization’s backup and restoration strategy and plan specifies the deployment of a secondary site, verify that the site is set up and available by using the information in Restoring Sitesand Validating Pool, Server, and Site Backups. To help ensure that the standby server and other servers at the secondary site are available in case of the loss of the primary site, do this as soon as possible after deployment of the primary site.

In the event of a failure, use the information in Restoring Sitesto recover service, as appropriate.