15 Backup / Restore Microsoft Exchange Server

Section 15 - Backup / Restore Microsoft Exchange Server

This section describes in details how to backup and restore Microsoft Exchange Server with OBM.

15.2 Backup Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 / 2007

Table of Contents:

15.2.1 Requirements and recommendations

15.2.2 Overview

15.2.3 How to backup Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 / 2007

15.2.1 Requirements and recommendations

Please ensure that the following requirements are met by the MS Exchange server:

OBM is installed on the MS Exchange server.
The Exchange databases selected for backup will be temporarily spooled to a temp directory before being uploaded to the backup server.

It is recommended that the temporary directory have disk space of at least 120% of the total database size (e.g. total size of all .edb files found within the MS Exchange Server installation folder).

It is recommended that the temporary directory be configured on a local drive.
For Exchange server with Active Directory installed, a System State backup must be performed regularly with the MS Exchange server backup.

15.2.2 Overview

For a complete Exchange server backup, backup for the following components must be performed:

System State

For Exchange server with Active Directory installed, as part of the restore, the system state of the server must also be restored.

Running regular system state backups of the Exchange is therefore crucial, as it ensures that the system state data is synchronized with the Exchange database data.

Information Store (Exchange 2003 / 2007)

The Information Store of Exchange 2003 and 2007 contains both mailbox store and public folder store data.

The server stores data into two files - .edb and .stm file that forms an Exchange store repository.

The default mailbox store on an Exchange 2003 server uses filename Priv1.edb and Priv1.stm; the default public folder store uses the filename Pub1.edb and Pub1.stm.

The .edb file contains tables that hold metadata for all e-mail messages and other items in the Exchange store, while .stm stores native Internet content.

15.2.3 How to backup Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 / 2007

Refer to the following instructions to backup Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 or 2007:

Install OBM on the MS Exchange Server.
Login to the backup application's user interface.

Select the [Backup Settings] button and the button to start the New Backup Set Wizard.
Enter the name of the backup set.
Create a MS Exchange Server Backup set by selecting [MS Exchange Server Backup] from the backup set type dropdown menu.
Select the corresponding Exchange version from the version dropdown menu.

Select [Next] to proceed.
In the backup source selection screen, select the Information Store for backup.

Configure a backup schedule for unattended backups.

Menu Items	Description
Name	Enter a backup schedule name of your choice.
Backup	Select backup type [Database / Log File]. Note: Select database type for full database backup, or select log file type for transaction log backup.
Type	Select backup schedule type [Daily / Weekly / Monthly / Custom].
Time	Select backup schedule time type [At / Periodically]. Note: Select backup schedule time at to perform backup at a certain time, or select backup schedule time periodically to perform backup every X minutes / hours.
Skip backup if previous job is still running	Select whether to stop the backup job from running if a previous backup job is still running.

Select an encryption setting for your backup set.
Press the [OK] button to complete the configuration of the [New Backup Size Wizard].
Configure the temporary backup folder, select [Backup Setting], [Options].

Note:
The temporary directory can be set to a local or network path.

Please be reminded to fill in the [User Authentication for Windows] setting if a network path is selected.

For database specific backup type, data files spooled by the latest backup job can be kept by disabling the [Remove temporary files after backup] option.
Scheduled backup will run automatically at the configured schedule time.
Click [Backup] button on the left panel to perform a backup immediately.

Menu Items

Description

Backup

Select backup type [Database / Log File].

Note:
Select [Database] type for full database backup, or select [Log File] type for transaction log backup.

Important:
For Exchange server with Active Directory installed, a System State backup must be performed regularly with the MS Exchange server backup.