Exchange Backup Advice
I am looking for advice on backup exchange 2003 with Backup Exec. My last job this was not a problem, backup all. However i can't do that here because i have users with mailboxes of 2Gb!!! and its taking me 8hours to back up emails. total mailboxes = ~24Gb i currently backup up both mailboxes and first storage group, but not mbadata folder. Q1. I want to stop backing up the mailboxes, so as to reduce the time, but i don't know how to restore individuals mail items. And its the people with the huge emails accounts that are causing me this problem as it will be them who want 1 emailrestore that they sent 3days again which is the most import thing on the planet. I am guessing i would have to Q2. Do i need to backup the mdadata folder if i am already backup first storage group? Ohh i only have one backup device hence why i need to reduce the backup time, as i am currently backup up 160Gb overall servers, but the biggest bottle neck is the exchange server at the moement, 8hours because i am backup each mail item, which i want to stop. Cheers.
January 18th, 2008 1:17pm

As a first action, I would strongly recommend to convince users to clean their mailboxes. i know some users hang on to everything they ever sent or received, but in most cases it is just being lazy. Secondly, 24 GB should not take 8 hours, so if you are taking a backup over LAN, invest in 1 Gig NICs or so, or add local drives to the server to save time, lots of it. There is no need to backup the mdbdata folder at all if you have the store. An option is to invest in something like Ontrack, that enables you to just have the store and still allows you to extract a single mail from it.
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January 18th, 2008 10:33pm

I agree with Marc's comments regarding clean-up. Set mailbox limits now or you'll never get them! What version of Backup Exec are you running? Are you running a full backup every night or are you running differentials or incrementals? You don't have to run brick level backups if you have enough room to restore the whole mail store and mount it to a Recovery Storage Group (24GB is that big, heck you could use a USB drive to restore to!). Check out the following on RSG: http://hellomate.typepad.com/exchange/2003/12/the_recovery_st.html
January 19th, 2008 1:40am

v9,1, with full backup. I want to run full every night, and it not the size of the emails that is slowing the backup down it the volume of items with each account. So until i get everyone to use the archive feature, i am stuck with a lot to backup up. I need to backup the mailboxes so as i can quickly restorse a single item when some muppet (i.e a director) deletes an email that is so important the world will end if he does not get it back. I know there is a away to restore items by creating a secondary store but i've never done it and i can't find any documention on restoring this way. That link seems like it will do the job. As i say it only a temp soloution until i educate the users on why a 3.1gb mail box is not ideal. Butfirst thing first, time to getNeverFail back up andrunning.
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January 20th, 2008 5:30pm

Well, if you are stuck with your solution, you are stuck with the time it takes. It is up to you to make changes to assure business continuity, not some muppet, regardless who it is. Make it clear to the problem users and decision makers, let THEM make a choice, live with the risk and annoyance, or invest.
January 21st, 2008 9:13pm

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