How To Build A Duplicate Standby File/Print Server using Windows 2003 Server and Windows XP.

By Mark Benson Copyright 2009

Assume you have zero money budgeted but need a standby File

and Print Server.

The problem is to build a standby server using extra

hardware you may have available, like a spare workstation.

Since two same-named Windows 2003 servers cannot exist at

the same time on the network, how is it possible to create

a duplicate server and keep it on the network and updated

at the same time?

A solution to this problem is to build a dual boot Windows

2003 server.

Our "real" file server is a Dell Poweredge 2600 with 2.39

GHz Intel Xeon Processor, 1 GB RAM and a 36 GB SCSI OS

partition and a 169 GB SCSI RAID 5 file partition.

Our "duplicate" file server is a Dell Optiplex 740 desktop

2.61 GHz AMD Athlon with 64x2 Core Processor, 2 GB RAM, a

80 GB SATA drive for two OS partitions and a separate 200

GB SATA drive for the file partition.

Steps to Create the Duplicate Server

1. Install Windows 2003 Server Standard and be sure to

partition the OS drive into two partitions. I created an

NTFS C: partition that was 50 GB in size, leaving over 20

GB for what will be the second Windows Server install on

the other partition.

2. Continue installing Windows 2003 on C: partition. I

named the computer "STANDBY." DO NOT JOIN your Domain,

remain in a WorkGroup. Install all drivers needed for your

computer. It is helpful to copy the drivers to C:\Drivers

for future use.

3. Install service packs to the same level as the

"original" or "real" server on your network. DO NOT USE

Windows Update.

4. Go in to Disk Management and create a new Primary

partition. I created an NTFS E: drive. Also, since I had

installed a separate D: 200 GB SATA drive this too was

installed as a Primary NTFS partition.

5. * Now reboot your "duplicate" server with the Windows

2003 Standard install CD. Setup will find your C: drive

install of Windows 2003. It will also show you your D: and

E: drives. In my case, I selected the E: drive to install

Windows 2003 on. Since it was already formatted as NTFS

you may safely choose

"Leave the current file system intact (no changes)."

Now just continue the install. I once again named the

computer "STANDBY." DO NOT JOIN your Domain, remain in a

WorkGroup.

When your server reboots you will get a choice screen that

looks like:

1. Windows 2003 Server Standard (default)

2. Windows 2003 Server Standard

Let it continue booting the default as this is your last

installation.

Log in and edit the C:\Boot.ini file so you can tell what

is what with your choices. Here is what I used:

[boot loader] timeout=30 default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOWS [operating systems] multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOWS="Standby Windows Server 2003, Standard" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptOut /usepmtimer multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="ISSFS01 Windows Server 2003, Standard" /fastdetect /usepmtimer

Now install all drivers needed for your computer. It is

helpful to copy the drivers to E:\Drivers for future use.

Finish by installing all service packs and Windows update.

6. Use NTBACKUP on your "real" server to back it all

including the System State) up to a .bkf file on a network

storage device or on a separate server share elsewhere on

your network. You need enough storage capacity to hold

your "real" server's .bkf file.

7. Boot your duplicate server and choose the second boot

option. This will be your first installation of Windows

2003 on the C: drive. Map a drive to where you the "real"

server .bkf file stored. Run NTBACKUP and copy over your

duplicate server using RESTORE on your backed up "real"

server .bkf file, but EXCLUDE all C:\ root boot files

including BOOT.INI as well as the

C:\Windows\System32\HAL.DLL. Choose to Restore ALL D:

drive files. Choose to overwrite all files, being sure to

select the System State as well. NTBackup will prompt you

to reboot your server. Go ahead and disconnect your network

cable from your server first.

8. Boot into your new duplicate server and log in. This

may take some time as some services may not start because

you probably lost your network card and other drivers. You

will need to reload your computer drivers again, especially

the Network card drivers. This may require more rebooting,

so keep your network cable disconnected from the server for

now to avoid a real network problem.

9. After all your drivers are installed, verify that the

system is running properly, including services. You will

note that the server's name is the same as the original,

and it now is a member of your domain. Change your NIC

card TCP/IP addressing to copy your "real" server's

settings. You may encounter other issues that necessitate

some tweaking, like registry settings, etc. I like to keep

both C: and E: installation drive lettering conventions the

same to eliminate confusion. For instance, the CD-Rom

drive should be named the same letter on both

installations.

10. Congratulations, you now have a working Windows 2003

duplicate of your "real" server running on different

hardware.

11. Reconnect your network cable. Boot into your 2nd

Windows 2003 server installation known as STANDBY. It is

helpful to install NT Reskit tools to run an update script

(robocopy) on the server D: drive (File server partition.)

Here is a copy of the script that I use:

@ECHO OFF TITLE FileSrvCopy.bat

REM FileSrvCopy.bat - Uses Robocopy in C:\NTReskit to synch Standby with Production File Server. SETLOCAL SET _source=\\filesrv01\d$ SET _dest=\\standby\d$ SET _what= :: /COPYALL :: COPY ALL file info :: /B :: copy files in Backup mode. :: /SEC :: copy files with SECurity :: /MIR :: MIRror a directory tree SET _options=/R:0 /W:0 /XD \\filesrv01\d$\staticdata /S :: /R:n :: number of Retries :: /W:n :: Wait time between retries :: /NFL :: No file logging :: /NDL :: No dir logging ROBOCOPY %_source% %_dest% %_what% %_options%

Of course any method you like would work, some may prefer

using a Python script or even XCOPY /D.

Use the Windows scheduler to run the script every evening

after work.

12. Keeping the C: partition in synch with the AD Network.

Every few days you will need to run an NTBACKUP Restore to

the C: drive from your original server System State backup.

Here are the steps to use:

* Working through section 5 you may choose to use Windows

XP instead of Windows 2003 Server. Windows XP can access

the NTFS C: partition as well as utilize the same NTBackup

bkf files. The savings in cost over a server license is a

consideration as well. I found this out with some

experimentation and was pleased to find that this works

just fine. When building these backup standby servers now

I always use Windows XP.

Choose Advanced

Choose Alternate location and point to the C: drive:

Replace existing files if they are older than the backup

files:

Restore security settings and preserve existing volume

mount points:

Click on Finish to run Restore: