Windows Server 2012 notes 40-417System State and MS Online BackupMicrosoft Online Backup Service can back up either files or folders. The Microsoft Online Backup Service cannot be used for system state backups.The system state contains a number of items: System Registry COM + Database Certificate Services Active Directory SysVol IIS MetabaseSome of these items are only included if the specified service is installed (AD, IIS, Certificates).

If you need to restore a server, you will need this state to recover the registry, or your AD Domain, or IIS sites.You can restore system state to the same server, or another server with identical hardware. Microsoft does not support restoring system state to different hardware.