Multi Domain Controllers in App Group and Virtual Lab

[gggggggg]

Can I get a best practice please for Domain Controllers in a App Group and Virtual Lab.

I have 2 Virtual DCs (Win 2013 and Win 2008). As we know, when you have more than one DC you need to bring them up together. So I cant put them in a App Group, as when they come online they depend on one another. So my only option is to replicate them to the Virtual lab, and bring them online at the same time. Though this is not ideal, with respect to automating the process.

Is there a way to get servers in a App Group as part of a SureBackup job to turn on at the same time, rather than be sequential?

Also, side question, what happens if I had 2 Virtuals and a Physical DC? Does anyone know if I can bring up only 2 DC, or do I need all three?

Is any of this fixed/changed in v8?

thanks
greg

[tsightler]

If you want to bring up multiple domain controllers in a vLab you should be able to do this quite easily. When you add the first domain controller you want to select the DC and Global Catalog (assuming it is also a global catalog server) roles for the first DC. This will cause the first DC to be brought online as quickly as possible and force an authoritative restore for this DC.

When you add the second DC you should NOT choose the DC and GC roles for that server, instead manually increase the timeout and add the specific test scripts. This will start the second DC as a non-authoritative restore so that it will sync up with the first DC, effectively performing the same steps as if you had performed a restore of this DC in production, but still running the tests against the second DC. After that you should have two happy DCs for the rest of the app group.

[gggggggg]

Worked perfect, thanks. I had forgotten GC.