Section 15 - Backup / Restore Microsoft Exchange Server

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

15.4 Backup Microsoft Exchange Server 2010

Table of contents:




• 15.4.1 Requirements and recommendations


• 15.4.2 Overview


• 15.4.3 How to backup Microsoft Exchange Server 2010

15.4.1 Requirements and recommendations

Back to top

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




• OBM version 5.5.8.0 or above is installed on the Exchange server.



For Exchange server 2010 with database availability group (DAG) backup option, please refer to the next section for details




• Databases of the Exchange server are spooled to a temporary directory before being uploaded to the offsite 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).



Since 6.11.0.0, the Exchange server 2010 backup will no longer required to spool the database to the hard disk, however the VSS Exchange backup still requires certain amount of disk space to operate. Microsoft suggested that some shadow copy mechanism may required to reserve 100% of the original database.

Reference: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/exchange/aa579091%28v=exchg.140%29.aspx




• 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.

15.4.2 Overview

Back to top

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



• Windows System State



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





• Microsoft Information Store (Exchange 2010)



The Information Store of Exchange 2010 contains the data, data definitions, indexes, checksums, flags, and other information that comprise mailboxes in Exchange.





Mailbox databases hold data that's private to an individual user and contain mailbox folders generated when a mailbox is created for that user. A mailbox database is stored as an Exchange database .edb file.

Public folder databases contain the data, their definitions, indexes, checksums, flags, and other information that comprise any public folders in your Exchange organization. In Exchange Server 2010, public folders are an optional feature.

15.4.3 How to backup Microsoft Exchange Server 2010

Back to top

Refer to follow the instructions to backup Microsoft Exchange Server 2010:




• 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 [Full / Copy / Incremental / Differential].
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.





Further details on Backup Type:






Backup Type	Description
Full	Backup the databases, transaction logs, checkpoint files and then truncates the transaction logs.
Copy	Backup the databases, transaction logs, checkpoint files but does not truncate the transaction logs.
Incremental	Backup the transaction logs to record changes since the last full or incremental backup and then truncates the transaction logs.
Differential	Backup the transaction logs to record changes since the last full or incremental backup and does not truncate the transaction logs.




• 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 Select backup type [Full / Copy / Incremental / Differential].





Backup Type	Description
Full	Backup the databases, transaction logs, checkpoint files and then truncates the transaction logs.
Copy	Backup the databases, transaction logs, checkpoint files but does not truncate the transaction logs.
Incremental	Backup the transaction logs to record changes since the last full or incremental backup and then truncates the transaction logs.
Differential	Backup the transaction logs to record changes since the last full or incremental backup and does not truncate the transaction logs.





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





Back to top