Exchange Backup

[kevstar]

Not too sure if this is the right MSG Board for this question, but here goes.

I am currently backing up my Exchange server using Arcserve 2000 with an Exchange agent. What am I meant to backup to be able to do a full restore?!

I am currently backing up:
1 The server Registry
2 The Microsoft Information Store
3 The Microsoft Site Replication server
4 The Exchange Brick Level

Is this too much to backup or can I get away with loosing some of this out of the backup. THe problem is I am running out of tape space!!!!

 

[ACraib]

Every thing looks fine ... but make sure you backup the system state on the server.

You will be using extra space on your tapes because you are backing up the Information Store and doing a brick level backup. The Info Store backup will backup the actual database files and the log files. While the brick level will backup open every mail box in turn and back up the messages contained inside.

I'd turn off the brick level backup unless you have to have the ability to restore individual messages. Turn off brick level will cut the backup time / space in half.

If you do need to be able to restore individual messages have a look at this web site for an alternative way of doing it.

http://www.exchangeadmin.com/Articles/Print.cfm?ArticleID=21801

Hope this helps.

Andrew

 

[lanamater]

Here is a helpful link about brick level backups:

http://mail.tekscan.com/nomailboxes.htm

 

[Marcs41]

The Arcserve 2000 Exchange agent is there to do that for you.
Since you have it, use it.
Just configure it correctly. If the solution is out there, let us know it was helpful, so others can benefit from it as well..

 

[kevstar]

OK thanks for the replies, I now understand the reason for having the different types of backup. Is it really necessary for me to backup the whole of the registry on every backup job. Do I need the registry to do a system recovery?

 

[rrsub]

Use exmerge. It's on the Exchange CD. I have a script run one every night.

 

[kevstar]

what does exmerge do and how does it work?

 

[lanamater]

Exmerge is a great utility provided by Microsoft that extracts mailboxes from Exchange into .PST file. Then you can use the utility to re-import the PST files back into your new Exchange box. Very slick.

It makes a great backup utility in the most basic form. Simply extracting everyone's data every night via scripts will allow for independent mailbox restore without all the headaches of "backups".

Be warned though- Exmerge loses all connection to the Exchange database. So your database can grow by two or three times, should you need to restore all mailboxes, as well as losing links to each other.)

Example: You send an email to 20 different people and CC 50 other people and you run Exmerge that night. The next day Exchange crashes and you restore from Exmerged mailboxes. Now instead of one email sent to 70 different people, you have 70 emails (one in each person's mailbox.

Try it and play with it.

 

[rrsub]

I think that's a headache that most people wouldn't mind having given the circumstances of not having mail or deleting 70 messages.

If you need to scan messages from a fired employee, it's the best. I've used it countless times to upgraded Exchange servers as well.

 

[kevstar]

That sounds very promising thanks.

I will look into Exmerge.

Thanks again for all your help