Rescuing a failed domain controller: Disaster recovery in action

When a Windows Server 2003 domain controller went belly up, network manager Louis Nel discovered firsthand that disasters don't happen in predictable ways. The situation was complicated by a series of failures (restoring AD from backup failed; transferring the FSMO roles from the server failed; seizing the roles resulted in a host of error messages), ultimately requiring a strategy that entailed reinstallation and replication. Nel steps through the solution he found and offers recommendations for making sure your DR plan really works--should the worst happen.

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