How to replicate windows server 2008?

Question

We have 2 servers let's call them server A and server B.
Server B is never used unless something goes wrong with server A.
I need a system that can replicate server A to server B but this doesn't have to be continues. This only has to be done once every day (let's say at 1 am or so).
Also, it's not necessary to automatically take over the server, this can be done manually.
On this server IIS is running and sql 2008 so all webapplications and databases must be synced/replicated.
What tools can I use?
I hope someone can help me with this.

Cheers, Sem

Answer 1

I was thinking of a solution similar to http://www.drbd.org/home/what-is-drbd/ but only like for the inferior OS relative Windows :) (I kid Microsoft, Windows is Great)
some options that need to be checked are here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_synchronization#Software
Even microsoft has a failover cluster solution this would work for you but I guess you'll need some extra licenses:
http://www.google.de/#hl=en&q=microsoft+failover&meta=&aq=f&aqi=g1&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=&fp=1&cad=b
or (Distributed File System)
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc738688%28WS.10%29.aspx

Answer 2

A mixture of distributed file system and SQL Server mirroring or log shipping should work for you.

I've run a similar set-up in the past and used Allway Sync to replicate file system changes periodically and log shipping to transfer the SQL data.

A much more expensive approach is a product like Double Take which will do it all for you including application binaries etc.