Restore to same server

[milbank]

Hi

Im testing our backups and want to recover a whole server DC, AD system state etc. But I have limited hardware available. Is it possible to recover a server onto itself ? IE running the recovery on the same server ?

[pkh · Accepted solution]

Sure you can.  This is one possible restore scenario.  Install the OS, then BE and restore the rest of the system.  I presume that you are thinking of using your present production BE media server to test your restore.  Personally, I would not do this.  If anything goes wrong e.g. a bad backup, this server is gone.

[CraigV]

Mmm...or you can consider downloading something like ESXi, creating a VM, and then restoring to that. Just make sure that once you have restarted it, you disconnect it from your network, or you WILL get issues with 2 DCs on the network.
I would not recommend recovering onto the same server in this case...pkh hit the nail on the head.

[CraigV]

Have you come right here?