What happed if configuration is not backed up?
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Everything else gets backed up. Here is what will not be backed up
The special data structures maintained by the Windows operating system are not treated as a part of the filesystem backup. Data Protector lets you back up a special data structure known as CONFIGURATION.
To perform a configuration backup, select the object CONFIGURATION or just parts of it when creating a filesystem backup specification. Event Logs, Profiles, and User Disk Quotas are always backed up if CONFIGURATION is selected in the Backup wizard.
On Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows Server 2008 systems, CONFIGURATION backup is performed using Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service.
Limitations
Only one CONFIGURATION backup can run on a system at a time.
Active Directory Service and SysVol should be backed up in pair.
Windows configuration objects
Active Directory Service
Certificate Server
COM+ Class Registration Database (ComPlusDatabase)
DFS
DHCP
DNS Server
EISA Utility Partition
Event Logs
File Replication Service
IIS
Profiles (Documents and Settings)
Registry
Removable Storage Management Database
SystemRecoveryData
SysVol
Terminal Service Database
User Disk Quotas (QuotaInformation)
WINS
CONFIGURATION differs between Windows systems.
For some objects, special points have to be considered. These are listed in the sections below.
Active Directory
DFS
DHCP and WINS
Profiles
Removable Storage Management Database
Terminal Service Database
Windows services
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Active Directory
When backing up the Active Directory service, the File Replication Service (FRS) and Distributed File System (DFS) also get backed up. All configuration information about replicated files and distributed files is stored in the Active Directory.
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DFS
Data Protector backs up Windows Distributed File System (DFS) as part of one of the following:
Windows Registry, if the DFS is configured in a standalone mode
Windows Active Directory, if the DFS is configured in a domain mode
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DHCP and WINS
When Data Protector backs up DHCP and/or WINS databases, the respective service is stopped and then restarted after the database is backed up. It is recommended to schedule the backup of the CONFIGURATION of a server that is running DHCP and/or WINS service during off hours.
DHCP and WINS services also provide their own internal backup copies of their databases. If your environment cannot tolerate occasional shutdowns of these services, you can exclude them from Data Protector CONFIGURATION backups and back up the internal backup copy of the databases via filesystem backup. For details about location of the internal backup copies and how to ensure that these copies are made frequently enough, see the Microsoft MSDN documentation.
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Profiles
If the entire system is selected for backup, “Profiles” is backed up twice, (once as a part of filesystem backup and once as a part of CONFIGURATION). To avoid this, exclude the profile data from the filesystem backup. The user profile data resides in the c:\Documents and Settings directory:
These directories contain all user profiles configured on the system and are backed up by Data Protector. If a system is configured for multiple users, each defined user has a separate user profile. For example, the All Users and the Default User profile contain the profile components common to all defined users and the profile components assigned to a newly created user.
Data Protector reads the location of the profiles from the following Registry keys:
HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Software\Microsoft\Windows\\
CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders
(where information about common profile components resides)
HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Software\Microsoft\Windows\\
CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders
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Removable Storage Management Database
On Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 operating systems, to enable backup of the Removable Storage Management Database configuration object, ensure that Removable Storage Manager is installed on the system which will be backed up.
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Terminal Service Database
On Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 operating systems, to enable backup of the Terminal Service Database configuration object, ensure that the Terminal Server Licensing service is installed on the system which will be backed up.
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Windows services
Backing up the Windows services means backing up the data structures used by the respective services. A particular database is exported (dumped) into a file that is then backed up. The Windows services are always backed up if CONFIGURATION is selected in the Backup wizard.
A Windows service has to be up and running so that Data Protector can detect it and present it as a selectable item in the Backup wizard. If a service is not running at the backup time, the corresponding backup object will fail.
To back up one of the services, select the corresponding folder under CONFIGURATION. If you use Active Directory to publish Certificate revocation lists (CRLs), for example, back up the Active Directory services along with the Certificate Server.
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Can I do a disaster recovery restore?
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No
Now, having said this, I don't think that it is necessary to backup /CONFIGURATION every day, because, for the most part, it does not change on a daily basis. Maybe once a week or so, that will depend on your business needs
I would suggest that, in the GUI, you click Help -> Help Topics, and search for "configuration object", including the " marks, for additional information