One important feature that is present on Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 is the Active Directory snapshot capability. For our task, this is a powerful feature as it gives us the option to capture the state present in our AD DC at a specific point in time. So, we can view or utilize that information in the future to fix or replace specific objects in case we face any issues; thus, we will utilize it for our replacement plan. The Active Directory snapshot uses the Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS), a rich interface that permits coordination between applications and backup software, which allows you to have live, consistent backups [7].

Let's see how that works and how we can make use of this feature in our replacement plan. The following is a screenshot of our standalone Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 Active Directory DC, showing some standard users and organizational units:

Now, we will go through the procedure to create an Active Directory...