Backup selection - C: drive or system state?

[Jellyman2008]

Hi,

Basically as above, when I select a server to backup, what is the difference between the system state option and the C: drive. I understand that the system state includes such things as registry, and active directory if on domain controller etc..

What is the technical difference between them if any (So do I need to select both or just the system state?)

Thanks

[Greg_Meister]

It is recommended that you back up both the System State and the logical volumes in order to have all necessary data for a successful disaster recovery.

[Jellyman2008]

See thats all very well recommending it, but why??

Thats what I am looking for... what exactly could happen if I did not have the logical volume backed up (C drive).. and if someone replies saying, you may not be able to recover everything I want to know why!

[Greg_Meister]

To give you a rough analogy: If you wrote a book, would you only make a copy of the table of contents for safekeeping? Or would you want to copy the actual data itself?

As you said in your original post, the System State contains registry info, AD structure, etc., but it does not contain the actual volume data.

[Jellyman2008]

Hi,

OK.. I have one server which is currently only being backed up with the system state option. However if I look in the restore selections I can see the C: drive folders...

Whilst I am not doubting you, as the drive is 7GB whilst the backup is only 5GB, is there any definite hard documentation that states what is missing in a system state backup?

Thanks

[Greg_Meister]

Quoted from http://technet2.microsoft.com/windowsserver/en/library/921f0ed5-523d-48ac-8825-e850b0e548841033.mspx...

System State data contains most elements of a system's configuration, but it might not include all of the information that you require to recover your system from a failure. Therefore, it is recommended that you back up all boot and system volumes, including the System State, when you back up your system.

From our Administrator guide, page 317: http://ftp.support.veritas.com/pub/support/products/Backup_Exec_for_WindowsNT/288005.pdf

System State Lists a collection of system-specific data that is backed up whenever the

computer name node is selected. Symantec recommends that you back up

System State. However, you can clear the check box next to System State if

you do not want to back it up with the resources on the server. You cannot

select or expand the System State resources individually. They are backed

up only as a collection, never individually.

You can only perform a full backup on System State. However, if you select

other items at the same time, you can perform other backup methods on

those items. You can back up System State remotely on other computers if

Backup Exec Remote Agent is installed on the remote computer. For more

information about System State, refer to your Microsoft Windows 2000 or

Windows Server 2003 documentation.

So, in a nutshell, there is no "hard documentation" to tell you that what specific volume data is not backed up with the System State. There is however, hard documentation advising to backup all boot and data volumes along with the System State.