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Configure Exchange Server Backup

Overview

ACCDataVault supports backup of Microsoft Exchange servers using Exchange Server Plugin. Exchange Server Plugin is an efficient way of backing up exchange servers.

The Exchange Server Plugin backup uses the ESE API to backup Storage Groups and Mail Stores. In Exchange Server backup, the initial backup will be compressed and dumped locally and thereafter transferred to the backup server. Locally dumped files will be deleted once the files are successfully transferred to the backup server thus releasing disk space in the local exchange server.

The Exchange Server Plugin ESE API backup supports backup of storage groups in entirety, as well as individual databases within the storage groups. Because each storage group uses a single set of log files covering all of the databases in the storage group, restore and recovery operations should be done for the entire storage group.

Backing up databases individually provides greater storage management flexibility. For example, critical databases might be backed up more frequently. Infrequently used or less critical databases might be backed up less frequently. Restoration of the storage group, however, should combine the archives and logs from all of the appropriate storage media, so that the database can be restored and recovered with minimal data loss.

IMPORTANT: Please ensure the following before configuring a Exchange Server backup.

  1. Ensure that the Storage Group/Mail Store configured for backup is mounted. A database must be online to be backed up. If a database has been dismounted it cannot be backed up, and the log sequence will not be truncated.
  2. If the Storage Group is configured for either incremental or differential log backups, then the circular logging option should be disabled for the Storage Group. Once you disable circular logging, we recommend that you run a fresh full backup before running an incremental or differential backup.
How to get here in the ACCDataVault Web Console?
 In the top menu, select: "Backup -> Plugin Backups -> Add Exchange Server Backup"

Requirements

  • Exchange Server 2000 with Service Pack 3 / Exchange Server 2003 / Exchange Server 2007
  • ACCDataVault now supports backup of clustered Exchange Server Information Stores. Click here to know more about configuring Exchange Server Cluster backup.

Exchange Server Backup Configuration

  • Step 1: Schedule Name

    Enter Backup Schedule Name: The first step in configuring the Exchange Server backup is to give a name for the backup schedule. ACCDataVault supports creating multiple backup schedules each with its own configuration. The backup schedule name will uniquely identify the backup. While restoring your backup data, you need to choose the data to be restored using its schedule name.

  • Step 2: Select Backup Source

    On the left side of the "Add Exchange Server Backup" page, is the tree with a list of Storage Group and Mail Stores of the Exchange Server detected in the client machine. If the Storage Group or Mail Store is already configured as part of another schedule, it will not be possible to include it in other backup schedules. In this case, the Checkbox will be displayed as an image.

    Granularity up to Mail Store level backup is supported with the Exchange Server Plugin.

  • Step 3: Set Basic Configuration

    Plugin Type : The plugin type is "Exchange Server Plugin" [which is non-editable].

    Backup Type

    Same Machine: When the Exchange Server databases contain large amount of data, it might take significant amount of time to transfer all the data to a remote backup server over WAN/Internet. In such cases, you can take backup of the Exchange Server databases to a local external drive connected to the client machine and then physically move the external drive to the backup server location to migrate the data into the backup server. In such cases, you can select the backup type to be 'Same Machine'. Once the data is migrated to the backup server, you will have to perform Seed Backup Migration (Administration -> Seed Backup Migration) in the client machine to make it to run its backups to the remote server directly thereafter.

    Local Backup location: Enter the location/directory path to which the backup has to be stored in the same machine. Please ensure that you have enough disk space in the configured location (where the Exchange Server backup has to be saved).

    Remote Server: Select this option if you want the backup data to be transferred to a remote backup server directly when the backup schedule runs.

    Select Backup Server : This is the list of peers/backup servers on which the backup data can be stored. Only one backup server is allowed for an Exchange Server backup job.

    Set CPU Utilization : For each backup schedule, you can also specify the CPU utilization level as Low, Medium or High. When you set the CPU Utilization to high, the backup will be really fast - but the backup process may affect the speed of other active applications. If CPU utilization is set to Low, the backup will take longer but will be done in a non-intrusive manner allowing you to comfortably work on the computer as the backup continues in the background. In general for a continuous backup, it is best to set the CPU utilization to Medium or Low. For backups which are done everyday or every week in ‘off-hours’, the CPU utilization can be set to High. Actual performance is obviously a function of your individual machine and your network. We encourage you to experiment with different settings to figure what works best for you.

    Set Compression : Should the data be compressed or not.

    Enable - Compresses the data to the maximum. It might reduce the rate at which the client can send data to the backup server but it might save significant bandwidth and time when the data is backed up to a remote server over a WAN/Internet with limited bandwidth speed. Also, this saves disk space in the backup server.

    No Compression - This option is suitable (fastest) for backing up data within a local network where bandwidth is not the limitation, but occupies more space on destination machine as no compression is being done.

    Temporary location to store the backup dumps - Enter the location/directory path to which the Exchange Server database dumps has to be stored temporarily before uploading to the backup server. Please ensure that you have enough disk space in the configured temporary location (where the backup dump has to be saved). In Exchange Server Plugin, backup dumps stored in the temporary location will be deleted once backup dumps are transferred successfully to the remote backup server.

  • Step 4: Set Password Protection

    Password Protect This Backup - This option is to enable or disable encryption of the data that is being backed up. ACCDataVault uses the well known encryption algorithm, Blowfish. If enabled, a password has to be specified which will be used for generating the encryption key. Encrypting data ensures that it cannot be read in the destination machine (backup server) where your backup is stored, and is especially relevant for sensitive information.

    Password Protection - This option is to enable System Generated Encryption Key or use a Customized Encryption key for encrypting the backup data.

    System Generated: The selected files and folders will be encrypted using Blowfish algorithm with a 448 bit encryption key automatically generated by ACCDataVault before been backed up. No password will be required while restoring the data.

    Custom: This will enable the user to select the custom Encryption Technique, Encryption Key Size and the Encryption Key that needs to be used for encrypting the selected files and folders. Please don't lose the customized encryption key, as the backed up data cannot be restored without this key.

    Encryption Technique - ACCDataVault supports encryption using Blowfish or Triple DES. The Blowfish is a commonly used open source encryption technique which provides encryption based on the size of the encryption key length (from 64 bits to 448 bits). Higher the number of bits stronger the encryption. Triple DES is a block cipher formed from the Data Encryption Standard (DES) cipher by using it three times, this technique is also supported by ACCDataVault for encrypting the backup data. By default, Triple DES encryption technique is chosen.

    Encryption Key Size - ACCDataVault supports encryption using variable length (64 to 448 bits) keys. The key is generated using the password you provide. Basically the longer the key size you give the more difficult it is for someone to decrypt the encrypted files. For normal backup purposes the default 64 bit encryption should be good enough.

    Type Password - Provide a password here to generate the encryption key. If the password is forgotten the data can never be recovered as the data cannot be decrypted without this password. So, please ensure that you keep your password in a safe place.

  • Step 5: Full Backup Scheduling (Decide When To Do Full Backup)

    This step allows you to configure the frequency at which a full backup of the selected database has to be done. A full backup is a complete backup of the selected databases and all necessary log files. Once full backup completes, all log files older than the time when full backup started would be purged. Since full backups take more time to complete than a differential or incremental log backup, a full backup is typically configured to run weekly or monthly or much less frequently than differential or an incremental backup. Configuring a full backup scheduling is mandatory, i.e. this step cannot be skipped. ACCDataVault will do a full backup dump of the Exchange Server database(s) whenever the full backup is scheduled and back it up.

    This step has the following options from which any one can be chosen.

    Run Monthly At - Choose the time and day of the month the backup should run. ACCDataVault will run the backup every month on the particular day and time chosen. ACCDataVault will run at the stipulated time/day only.

    Run Weekly - Choose the time and the day of the week the backup should run. ACCDataVault will execute the backup every week on the particular day and time chosen. Note that you can select multiple days of the week if you wish to run the backup on multiple days of the week. ACCDataVault will run at the stipulated time/day only.

    Run Daily - Choose the time at which the backup should run daily. This will execute the backup everyday at the time you have provided. ACCDataVault will run at the stipulated time only.

    Run Every Few Hours - Choose the hours/minutes interval between each time ACCDataVault must run. If ACCDataVault is restarted in the interim, the backup will run once ACCDataVault starts. Thereafter, ACCDataVault automatically reschedules the next backup after the period you’ve set. For example, if you created a backup schedule at 10 am and set it to run every 1 hour, ACCDataVault will first run the schedule at 10am and the next scheduled time will be 11am. However, if at 10.15am, ACCDataVault is restarted, then the schedule will run once at 10.15am and the next scheduled time will now be set to 11.15am.

    Additionally, you can also select the days in which this schedule should run. For example, if you do not want to run this backup schedule on Saturdays and Sundays, uncheck the checkbox against these days.

    Run Once Only - Choosing this option will do the backup only once at the stipulated time.

  • Step 6: Log Backup Scheduling (Optional Step)

    Exchange Server Plugin users will have a drop-down box to optionally choose between Incremental/Differential Log Backups. ACCDataVault will do a Incremental/Differential log backup dump of the database with respect to the previous full or incremental log backup whenever this Incremental/Differential log backup is scheduled.

    Incremental Log Backup : An incremental log backup backs up only the log files since the last full or incremental backup. Once an incremental backup completes, all log files older than the time when incremental backup started would be purged. You cannot perform an incremental backup when circular logging is enabled in your exchange server settings. Since only changes are backed up, incremental backups typically run faster than full backups. Also, as only the log files since the last backup are backed up, incremental backups will run faster than differential backups too. Hence incremental backups are always configured to be scheduled more frequently than a full backup. Configuring incremental backup scheduling is optional.

    Differential Log Backup : A differential backup backs up only the log files since the last full backup even when the last backup was a incremental backup. The logs are not deleted after the differential backup completes. You cannot perform a differential backup when circular logging is enabled in your exchange server settings. Since only changes are backed up, differential log backups typically run faster than full backups. But, as all the log files since the last full backup are backed up, differential backups will take longer to finish than an incremental backup. Hence differential backups are configured to be scheduled more frequently than a full backup. Configuring differential backup scheduling is optional.

    This step has the following options from which any one can be chosen.

    Run Weekly - Choose the time and the day of the week the backup should run. ACCDataVault will execute the backup every week on the particular day and time chosen. Note that you can select multiple days of the week if you wish to run the backup on multiple days of the week. ACCDataVault will run at the stipulated time/day only.

    Run Daily - Choose the time at which the backup should run daily. This will execute the backup everyday at the time you have provided. ACCDataVault will run at the stipulated time only.

    Run Every Few Hours - Choose the hours/minutes interval between each time ACCDataVault must run. If ACCDataVault is restarted in the interim, the backup will run once ACCDataVault starts. Thereafter, ACCDataVault automatically reschedules the next backup after the period you’ve set. For example, if you created a backup schedule at 10 am and set it to run every 1 hour, ACCDataVault will first run the schedule at 10am and the next scheduled time will be 11am. However, if at 10.15am, ACCDataVault is restarted, then the schedule will run once at 10.15am and the next scheduled time will now be set to 11.15am.

    Additionally, you can also select the days in which this schedule should run. For example, if you do not want to run this backup schedule on Saturdays and Sundays, uncheck the checkbox against these days.

  • Step 7: Advanced Options

    There are four options here on how the backup should be scheduled.

    Maximum Number Of Full Backups : You can specify the maximum number of full backups that need to be stored in the server. For example if you configured a monthly full backup, then ACCDataVault will take a full backup every month. After 6 months you will have 6 separate full backups in the backup server along with differential or incremental logs under each of the 6 full backups. If your policy is to retain only backup data for 6 months, then you can configure "Store maximum of 6 full backups" here. On the 7th month, ACCDataVault, after finishing the 7th full backup, will delete the first full backup along with its differential or incremental log backups thus retaining the last 6 months (full) backups.

    Run this backup immediately after saving this configuration (thereafter, Backups will be scheduled as per the schedule stipulated) : If you enable this option, then this backup schedule will be executed once immediately after you save this backup schedule – even if its not yet ‘time’ as per the schedule. For example if you configure a daily backup at 10.00 AM but you configured the backup at 8.00 AM, then the backup schedule will be run once immediately (8.00 AM) and then as per schedule (eg. daily at 10.00 AM).

    Attempt to run this backup every 5 minutes in case of non completion because of a problem (Network error etc.) - If enabled, the user can choose to reschedule this backup every 5/10/15/20/25/30 minutes, whenever an attempted backup is incomplete because of a network error, server crash etc. The number of times the backup will be rescheduled (due to an error) can be configured to be in between 1-5 or unlimited, with the default setting as 5. This is to ensure that an incomplete backup is completed as soon as possible without waiting for the next actual schedule time. Note that this option is enabled by default.

    Saving the configured backup

    Once all the Exchange Server Storage Group(s)/Mail Store(s) to be backed up are chosen and the configuration options are set, you simply need to click on the "Configure/Save Backup” button to activate the backup as per the schedule- on to the configured backup servers.

Troubleshooting Tips

Exchange Server is not installed or not available in the system. Show/Hide

Cause : If Exchange Server services running in the local machine were not detected during ACCDataVault installation process.

Solution: Please verify that the following files "XchangeServer.sgpl" & "ExchangeServer.sgpl" exist in "<ACCDataVault_Home>\Acceler8 IT Solutions Inc\ACCDataVault\plugins" folder. If these files don't exist in the location, please try installing ACCDataVault on top of the existing installation and check if you were able to create Exchange Server Backup schedule without errors.

The following message is displayed in the backup report "The database missed a previous full backup before the incremental backup". Show/Hide

Cause 1: After a successful restore, if incremental or differential logs backup is performed before running a full backup then Exchange Server backup report will display the above error message.

Solution 1: Check the option "Run additional full backup after saving this configuration" in the "Edit Exchange Server Backup Schedule" page to run additional full backup and then proceed with the incremental or differential log backup.

Cause 2: If a new MailStore is added to existing Storage Group which was already configured for backup.

Solution 2: Check the option "Run additional full backup after saving this configuration" in the "Edit Exchange Server Backup Schedule" page to run additional full backup and then proceed with the incremental or differential log backup.

Cause 3: This issue could arise when ACCDataVault is trying to run an incremental backup on an Information Store in a Storage Group when at least one of the remaining Information Stores in the Storage Group had not been configured for full backup at least once. In such a situation, Exchange Server will not allow ACCDataVault to purge the logs files for the configured Information Store.

Solution 3: Configure full backup for the remaining Information Stores temporarily. And later you can delete this backup schedule if this backup is not needed.

The following message is displayed in the backup report. "No new/modified files for backup". Show/Hide

Cause 1 : If you try to do an incremental or a differential log backup on a exchange server that has circular logging enabled, Exchange server generates the above error message that the incremental or differential backup cannot be done.

Solution 1 : Turn off circular logging do an incremental or a differential log backup. To verify that circular logging is disabled, open Exchange System Manager and navigate through the console tree to Administrative Groups -> your administrative group -> Servers -> your server -> the storage group you want to check. Right click on the storage group, select properties, and verify that the "Enable Circular Logging" checkbox is not selected.

Cause 2 : If the temporary dump directory configured for backup schedule doesn't have enough space.

Solution 2 : Please ensure that you have enough disk space in the configured temporary location (where the backup dump has to be saved).


The following message is displayed in the backup report. "Backup is already active". Show/Hide

Cause : This message would be displayed in the client backup report in the following conditions :

  1. If the same Storage Group or the Mail Stores from the same Storage Group configured for backup is backed up by some other process.
  2. If ACCDataVault is killed or stopped and started immediately, while exchange server data dump was in progress. Then a previous instance of Backup (ESE API) could still be running in the background and it still has a connection open to the specified service. In this case a second instance will not be able to connect to the exchange server.

Solution : If the failed backup is a full backup, then edit the backup schedule to take an immediate full backup. For other backup schedules click schedule now button in the "List of Backup Schedule" for the backup schedule to take the backup.

The backup schedule fails with connection failure message [SG083, SG132...] in the backup report. Show/Hide

Cause : When ACCDataVault is doing the local dump of the exchange server data, the client's socket connection to the backup server will be idle. Depending upon the time the dump process takes, some firewall/router/NAT settings may close this idle socket connection after a timeout period. Hence, after the dump process, when ACCDataVault tries to transfer the dump file to the backup server, the connection is found to be invalid and the backup schedule fails.

Solution : Enable the Keep Alive setting for the backup in the ACCDataVault configuration file [<ACCDataVault Path>\conf\SGConfiguration.conf] by following the instructions given below:

  • Stop ACCDataVault
  • Edit <ACCDataVault Path>\conf\SGConfiguration.conf
  • Set the <StoreGrid><Configuration><Module> tag, "KeepAliveEnabled" attribute's value as "1" and set the "KeepAliveTime" attribute value to desired value.
  • Save the configuration file and restart ACCDataVault.

Limitations

  1. If locally dumped Exchange Server backup data is deleted manually while backup is in progress, then ACCDataVault will not have the information about the manually deleted file in client machine backup report and in server backup report.
  2. Local Dump path configured for Exchange Server backup should not contain special characters like single quote('), double quote("), forward slash(/), backward slash(\), question(?), colon(:), asterisk(*), lesser than(<), greater than(>), pipe(|) and plus(+).
  3. If Exchange Server backup schedule is suspended while local dump is in progress, then ACCDataVault will suspend the transfer of files to the backup server (till after the local dump process is completed). On resuming the same backup schedule, the dump process will not occur in the next schedule; instead, the locally dumped files will be transferred to server and an error message will be reported in backup report.
  4. Please ensure that the dump location configured for the backup schedule has enough space and has valid read and write permission to accommodate the exchange dump data. Also, the dump location (full path) should be less than 256 characters.
  5. If the Storage Group or Mail Store is configured as part of one schedule, then it cannot be included in other backup schedules. If Mail Stores under same Storage Group are configured as separate schedules, then enabling Multi-threaded scheduling in ACCDataVault is not recommended for Exchange Server backups.
  6. A Storage Group configured for backup in a backup schedule cannot be configured in a second backup schedule. If required, the first schedule has to be deleted first and thereafter configured in the second backup schedule.
  7. Everytime a new Mail Store is added under a Storage Group of the Exchange Server, then before running a differential or incremental backup, "Additional Full Backup" should be configured to run through the "Edit Exchange Server Backup" configuration.
  8. When you try to restore an Exchange Mail Store's full backup which was empty during its first full backup, then restore operation will fail. Hence you should ensure that Exchange Mail Store is not empty when a full backup is scheduled.
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