25 Easy Steps to Recover a Downed Domain Controller (Don't Panic)

 If you are one of the many businesses that have Windows Server 2008, then you may have had the unexpected pleasure of having a Domain Controller fail on you. Now if you do not know what the domain controller is then you are in for a treat. The domain controller is only the most important computer within your Windows Server 2008 domain. But, on the other hand, you may have had a technician install this beast of a computer. I put this lightly. The domain controller is a power server but it does not have to be put on a very powerful box. What you do need to do is make sure that it is redundant. So, what should we do if the domain controller does go down and we have another domain controller? Well, first, I want to tip my hat to you. Not many companies know the importance of having more than one domain controller in their environment. Let's digress a little. Why do you want to have multiple domain controllers? See, the domain controller does several different things. It has roles such as the Schema master, Domain Naming Master, RID Master, Infrastructure Master and PDC Emulator. These control the overall environment. Let's go over some definitions. Don't go to sleep on me. We will be getting to the good stuff soon enough. If you have any concerns pertaining to in which and how to use corporate names, you can get in touch with us at our web site.

Schema Master

Now you are asking, what is a schema? The schema is just a database. If you have used Excel or Access in the past then you have been exposed to a database. The schema is a database. Now the schema is composed of Classes which are the Tables and Attributes which are the fields. So, the Schema Master controls the updates to the schema. So, you can say that this is relatively important server. It only controls every entry that we make into the Active Directory Domain Service utility called ADUC which is short for Active Directory Users and Computers. This role is located on the first domain controller that is added to the Forest by default. There is only one Schema Master per Forest. When you update the schema which is known as extending the schema, you need to be in the same Forest as this domain controller.