Restore Remote Storage Service database in WinServer 2003

• Log on to the RSS server using an account with Local Administrator access.
• Click Start, All Programs, Administrative Tools, Remote Storage.
• In the Remote Storage window, verify that the service is not running or the correct managed volume information is incorrect.
• Back on the desktop, click Start, All Programs, Administrative Tools, Services.
• Scroll down in the Services applet and stop the Remote Storage Server and Remote Storage Notification services if either one is running (or both).
• Minimize the Services applet window.
• Click Start, Run.
• Type cmd.exe and click OK to open a command prompt.
• In the command prompt, change to the %systemroot%\system32\ RemoteStorage\Engdb folder and delete the files contained in it.
• At the command prompt, type rstore.exe c:\system32\RemoteStorage\engdb.bak and press Enter. This command assumes that the operating system has been installed in the default location on the C: drive of the system.
• Close the command-prompt window and open the Services applet window that was minimized.
• Scroll down to find the Remote Storage Server service and start it.
• Close the Services applet and open the Remote Storage console.
• In the Remote Storage console, verify that the managed volume information has been successfully restored.
• Close the Remote Storage console and all other Windows; then log off the server.

Now I'll discuss how to recover data when the reparse points are missing. If a file has been previously migrated to remote storage media and has been replaced on a volume with a reparse or junction point, both the remote storage media and the reparse point are needed to access the migrated data.

If a user inadvertently deletes the reparse point, the administrator needs to use standard file and folder recovery processes to restore it. If no backup of the reparse point is available, the migrated data must be accessed using alternate methods. To recover this data:

1. Insert the correct Remote Storage media into the tape device.
2. After the media is loaded, open the Removable Storage service.
3. Move the media from the Remote Storage media pool to the backup media pool as necessary.
4. Open Ntbackup.exe and catalog the media, locate the data and restore the original file to the desired location.

Note: The data is not saved in the same folder hierarchy as it was originally on the disk, so you will need the filename and version to recover the data.

Fast Guide: Remote Storage Service

 Introduction
 Remote Storage Services troubleshooting tips
 Reconfiguring Remote Storage Services for new media types
  Ensure data is available for Remote Storage Services
 Make the most of Remote Storage Service in Windows 2003
 Restore Remote Storage Service database in WinServer 2003
 Restoring the Remote Storage Service database

About the author: Rahul Shah currently works at a software firm in India, where he is a systems administrator maintaining Windows servers. He has also worked for various software firms in testing and analytics, and also has experiences deploying client/server applications in different Windows configurations.

More information on this topic:

• Tip: Remote Storage Services troubleshooting tips
  
• Topics: Windows storage management
  
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