High-Level Backup and Recovery Principles

Apply the following high-level principles when designing a backup strategy:

• Identify the data that must be backed up.

  For Directory Server Enterprise Edition this data includes the following:

  • Shared binaries and plug-ins

  • Certificate database files

  • Configuration files

  • Log files and the change log database

  • Schema files

  • User data

• Ensure that your backup and recovery strategy includes the hardware, operating system, and software components.

• Decide whether you will keep binary backups or LDIF backups.

  A general recommendation is that you keep both. For more information, see Choosing a Backup Method and Choosing a Restoration Method.

• Build automation around backup and recovery tools, and ensure that automatic scripts are maintained.

  This strategy avoids unnecessary delays if you have to restore from a backup in an emergency.

• Determine a retention and rotation strategy.

  This strategy includes how often you perform backups and how long you keep them. When determining retention and rotation of backups, be aware of the purge delay and its impact on backups in a replicated topology. As modifications occur on a supplier, changes are recorded in the change log. Without a method of emptying the change log, its size would continue to increase until the change log consumed all available disk space. By default, changes are purged every seven days. This period is known as the purge delay. When a change has been purged, the change can no longer be replicated. For this reason, make sure that databases are backed up at least as often as the purge delay.

• Use the backup and recovery tools provided with Directory Server Enterprise Edition rather than merely performing a system backup and recovery.