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What do you backup Exchange with?

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What do you backup Exchange with? - 10.May2008 10:22:07 AM

MrBeer

Posts: 6
Joined: 7.May2008
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Hi guys,

After a nightmare with Symantec Backup Exec 11d/12 I am after a decent backup and restore program and wondered what you all use? I will be backing up Exchange 2003 with approximatly 1000 users and 260GB of data. I need to be able to restore multiple stores if the server goes down, something that BE isn't so good at.

Many thanks

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RE: What do you backup Exchange with? - 10.May2008 12:30:53 PM

mark@mvps.org

Posts: 3617
Joined: 9.Jun.2004
From: Philadelphia PA
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1. Whilst I wouldn't touch BE with a 10 foot pole it is none the less perfectly good enough for the job. If you are having a problem of the scale that you indicate with the product you need to go back to the vendor.

2. The fact that you are even attempting to recover multiple stores and are complaining that BE isn't very good at it is a worry as well.

BE is no less simple and no more complex than all of the others. If you can't handle BE then I can assure you that you're not going to be able to handle any of the others apart from the (free and included) ntbackup.exe.

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RE: What do you backup Exchange with? - 11.May2008 5:12:42 AM

MrBeer

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Joined: 7.May2008
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Thanks, but it's not a question of not being able to handle BE, it's more a case that the software doesn't function correctly when specifying what you want it to do. The problem I had with BE was restoring to multiple stores from tape. Some it would miss and complain about permission erros and some it would complete. Then run a 2nd (identical) restore and BE would suddnly ingnore the permission error that it encountered on a previous run, restore the store correctly but then fail on one that it had previously completed on a previous restore correctly. Without any fiddling on my behalf with store or account permissions.

Yes I will be asking our vendor for help on this but I can't see me getting much of a resoloution. I was merely asking what other people use so that I could check out the product(s) myself and compare them to BE.

(in reply to mark@mvps.org)

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RE: What do you backup Exchange with? - 11.May2008 10:35:07 AM

mark@mvps.org

Posts: 3617
Joined: 9.Jun.2004
From: Philadelphia PA
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Then I refer you to my first sentence, i.e. that I wouldn't touch BE with a bargepole that was ten feet long, possibly longer.
To be honest I would just do a normal, plain ntbackup.exe of the stores to a backup file somewhere. Then you can take that file to tape or somewhere off site - whatever works for you.
If you want to restore an individual store to the same place or some other server ntbackup will do that for you.
Where I would spend the money is on something from (for example) Quest: www.quest.com/recovery-manager-for-exchange where you can open the bkf file, pseudo-mount the file inside it and recover individual mailboxes or items.

The backup should be as plain and simple as possible to allow for the easiest recovery in a major issue. If you want to do anything complex (and remember the only real reason you've probably got BE is for the bricks level backup since I doubt you're using NDMP) use a different application.

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(in reply to MrBeer)

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RE: What do you backup Exchange with? - 12.May2008 11:24:05 AM

sixth

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Joined: 22.Jun.2007
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I agree with the above poster, I wouldnt touch BE with ten foot pole. Just so you know Acronis is currently in Beta with their new Exchange agent which will blow every product out there away...permits full restore of select mailboxes, calendar's etc down to store's, on the fly, full BU's on the fly etc...I am currently in the Beta right now and it looks to be amazing...although right now Beta 1 is VERY limited, Beta 2 should remove a lot of limitations and hopefully I can see what this program can really do...But from what I see now, Acronis is going to turn into the 'BEST' backup solution for exchange, esp with the user interface and robustness.

But we shall see!! As the above poster said, stick with NTBACKUP and try Quest, I have tried it and it seems pretty good. (and no I am not trying to sell anything...just letting you know there should be something else out soon!!)

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RE: What do you backup Exchange with? - 13.May2008 8:57:04 AM

h4ppygi|more

Posts: 97
Joined: 2.Aug.2006
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I run BE 11d/Exchange 2007 and haven't had any problem. I can backup and restore multiple stores fine. BUT if I have a choice, I won't buy BE. I am dealing with it because our company had already made the investment in the product.

I am really impressed with Acronis trueimage server. It's good to hear that they are coming with a backup solution for exchange and possibly SQL server.

(in reply to sixth)

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