Microsoft Exchange 2000/2003 differs from its predecessors in several ways. Key
considerations when backing up Exchange 2000/2003 include the following:
The Exchange directory is integrated into the Windows
2000/2003 Active
Directory Service (ADS). ADS adds the Exchange components to the ADS schema,
during the “ForestPrep” and “DomainPrep” stages of installation. This means that
it is essential to have a current backup of the current ADS. The ADS only exists
on a Windows 2000/2003 domain controller.
Since it is considered good practice for
Exchange Server to run as a member server, ensure that you consistently back up
the System State of a domain controller within the Exchange Server's domain.
Configuring LiveVault Online Backup Service to back up the domain controller's System
State provides this necessary level of protection, as it captures Active
Directory as part of System State.
The Exchange 2000/2003 server's metabase contains the Exchange configuration information. Backing up this metabase is required
in order to perform disaster recovery on the Exchange 2000/2003 Server. Per Microsoft article Q241635:
“Much of the Exchange 2000 Server configuration information,
specifically related to Internet protocols and routing, is stored in the metabase on the local computer.
For disaster recovery to work successfully, you
must back up the metabase as well. File System backup is not the best choice for
the metabase, because the metabase maintains dependencies on other components
that are missed by a straight file system backup. The best method of backup is
to use the Microsoft IIS snap-in interface, which allows you to make an on-disk
backup copy of the metabase.”
Using LiveVault Online Backup Service
to back up your Exchange server's System
State provides the necessary level of protection.
The Exchange 2000/2003 server folders contain required IIS components that must also be backed up.
It is good practice to back up all folders within the
x:\exchsrvr directories, where x are the logical drives where Exchange
2000/2003
is installed.
Note: This data
generally should be backed up by the Files and Directories backup configuration, not
on the Exchange data backup configuration.
Exchange 2000/2003 creates an Installable File System (IFS) share, usually on M: Drive.
This is a “pointer” to other drives/folders which contain the actual data.
LiveVault Online Backup Service does not back up IFS drives. However, this is not an issue
because you configure LiveVault Online Backup Service to back up the drives that contain the
actual data pointed to by this IFS drive.
The IFS drive will not be visible in
MyLiveVault, as it is not a true local drive. This is not an issue.
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To be able to recover your full Exchange
2000/2003 Server computer (that is, to perform a disaster recovery), you must back up all the computer's volumes,
directories and files.
We do not recommend that you try to
only back up Exchange 2000/2003 data and other selected computer files. Such a "selective" backup
approach:
-
Precludes disaster
recovery.
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Can result in Exchange operational failures
following an Exchange data restore, due to overlooked dependencies among the
application's files during backup. For example, if you do not back up all the
files that Exchange has dependencies on or that are interdependent, and then
you manually build an Exchange server and restore the backed up Exchange
data to that server, Exchange may not be operational.
Refer to the Microsoft
Exchange 2000/2003 recovery documentation for additional information.
