In this chapter, we will cover the following backup and restore topics:
- Topology information
- Configuration information
- User database
- Persistent Chat database
- The Location Information Service (LIS) database
- The Response Group Service (RGS) configuration
- Certificates
- Backend databases
- Voice dial plans, policies, and settings
- File services
- Don't forget the infrastructure – the greater recovery plan
The Lync Server 2013 infrastructure is an important part of any organization. Just like any other infrastructure or system, it is important to have a sound backup routine and a well thought through recovery plan.
Even with a fully redundant Lync architecture built to Microsoft Best Practice for High Availability and Failover (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj204703.aspx), we could still be faced with failed replication or database corruption. In departments with many resources, there is also a risk that the configuration or topology could be overwritten unintentionally, or we might just be really unlucky and lose everything.
However unlikely it is, it is critical that there is a proper disaster recovery plan available, including backup and restore. This is what this chapter is all about.
There might be more than one way to create a backup and more than one way to restore. I will focus on the best practice, if there is one, in my walk-through and will talk about other viable options in the There's more sections as we go along.
Some of the restore jobs will require a restart of servers or services but are not included in the How to do it… sections. The rule of thumb is that to ensure stability and continued functionality, it is recommended that you perform a restart of the services involved.