What to back up on server

exchange

Hey All,

New to this forum. I'm currently setting up server 2003 with exchange in a test environment . It's my first time doing this and it is going pretty well. Just wondering what I should be back up. Obviously the user files. Is there anything else I need to back up. I've got 2 GB free online storage. The plan is to make the system corrupt and then try and resurrect it. Nobody will let me near a fully working server which is common sense.

Cheers

Mr. Fancypants

You need a backup that is exchange aware. NTBackup will do this for you for free and is included in server 2003. 2GB isn't a huge amount of space to back up the server. You would get away with just backing up the exchange information store if you were happy to rebuild the server, reinstall exchange in disaster recovery mode and then restore your datastore from your backup.
If you wanted to do a full windows restore you would need to back up the system state, windows and program files directories as well as the exchange datastore.

rolion

Welcome to Boards ...

First,my friendly advice...move up from 2003 to:
-Server 2008 R2
-Server 2008 R2 with Exchange 2010
-SBS2008
-SBS2011

There are MAJOR differences in between these OS-es !
If you just starting now,get used to PowerShell and Command line,rather than GUI and clicks...

Next,get a book/ebook and read about Server OS,then Exchange technologies.They can be separated ,on its own !

Don't jump on backup,just understand what is behind the desktop,Server services,network,Active Directory ,thinks that can be far more important for a SysAdmin than user data (photos and mp3s).

Subscribe to news,feeds,check web sites and blogs...

Next,play around and break-it !

Good luck...

rolion

and a more friendly advice: slowly,shift away from server / support technologies...get on the online serios designing stuff(Java,PHP,mySQL,CRM,ecommerce),mobile applications and/or VB/VC/Java Developers...

CptSternn

It was kinda said above, but I will extrapolate a bit for you...

First off, you are running an out-dated version of Exchange. Exchange 2010 and 2007 both require server farms to operate. You need at least six servers to run Exchange as you have to assign roles for hosting mailboxes (mailbox servers), users connecting to the system (client access servers), servers to transfer the data (hub transport servers), and depending on your network you will probably need an edge transport server as well, depending on your security setup. You can get away with putting the hub transports and client access server roles on the same server, but the rest will all need to be on separate boxes.

Thats before we get into the fact you have to setup a cluster for the mailbox server(s) and then will have to configure a SANS solution to handle the mailboxes as well.

That brings me to my second point, you don't need to backup anything. In the new Exchange environment everything will be on a SANS. You SANS should be replicating to a backup server. Therefore if something does die, you only need to restore the SANS copy and off you go. No need to setup any backup for Exchange as it would be redundant. You can setup a backup solution for the individual mailboxes using one of the more popular packages like Netbackup or something along those lines so you can restore emails that users accidentally delete, but as far as redundancy and what needs to be backed up in case of a crash your SANS will handle this for you.

In fact, if you install the entire system to say a blade server or other VM type environment you can easily restore a whole server with a click of a mouse button in a matter of minutes. If the blade it is running on dies you can pop in a new card in minutes and it will be back online like it never left.

The whole idea and concept of backing up files on a server and having a single server for Exchange was obsolete years ago mate.

swampgas

exchange wrote: »

Hey All,

New to this forum. I'm currently setting up server 2003 with exchange in a test environment . It's my first time doing this and it is going pretty well. Just wondering what I should be back up. Obviously the user files. Is there anything else I need to back up. I've got 2 GB free online storage. The plan is to make the system corrupt and then try and resurrect it. Nobody will let me near a fully working server which is common sense.

Cheers

If it's a test environment, why bother backing it up at all?

Or why not just use a virtual machine (or machines), which will allow you to back up the entire system, clone it, try destructive actions, etc?

For a test environment, virtual machines have a lot to offer, and it simplifies backup into the bargain.

rolion

CptSternn wrote: »

It was kinda said above, but I will extrapolate a bit for you...

First off, you are running an out-dated version of Exchange. Exchange 2010 and 2007 both require server farms to operate. You need at least six servers to run Exchange as you have to assign roles for hosting mailboxes (mailbox servers), users connecting to the system (client access servers), servers to transfer the data (hub transport servers), and depending on your network you will probably need an edge transport server as well, depending on your security setup. You can get away with putting the hub transports and client access server roles on the same server, but the rest will all need to be on separate boxes.

Thats before we get into the fact you have to setup a cluster for the mailbox server(s) and then will have to configure a SANS solution to handle the mailboxes as well.

That brings me to my second point, you don't need to backup anything. In the new Exchange environment everything will be on a SANS. You SANS should be replicating to a backup server. Therefore if something does die, you only need to restore the SANS copy and off you go. No need to setup any backup for Exchange as it would be redundant. You can setup a backup solution for the individual mailboxes using one of the more popular packages like Netbackup or something along those lines so you can restore emails that users accidentally delete, but as far as redundancy and what needs to be backed up in case of a crash your SANS will handle this for you.

In fact, if you install the entire system to say a blade server or other VM type environment you can easily restore a whole server with a click of a mouse button in a matter of minutes. If the blade it is running on dies you can pop in a new card in minutes and it will be back online like it never left.

The whole idea and concept of backing up files on a server and having a single server for Exchange was obsolete years ago mate.

I agree with you up to a point:what about SBS2008 and/or SBS2011 !?

CptSternn

rolion wrote: »

I agree with you up to a point:what about SBS2008 and/or SBS2011 !?

I have never come across any business today that uses SBS in a real world environment. Thats not to say it doesn't still happen, it's just that businesses today either have large virtual networks utilising server farms of VMs or they outsource to a company that does it for them. Some even choose to use online cloud services like Google, Microsoft, or others as you can pay them to setup a server for you and all you pay is like a fiver a month per account and get all the benefits of a large network.

The cost benefit of having your own small server and running SBS these days is non-existant.

Sizeable companies have server farms and use the VMs like I outlined, small companies pay for space on someone elses systems that do the same thing.

No one has a server in the office these days sure. Well, again you might run across one in some small business where they don't have some tuned in IT people but the reality is once they do a cost analysis they will find they are losing money with their current process and will move on sure.

longshotvalue

CptSternn wrote: »

I have never come across any business today that uses SBS in a real world environment. Thats not to say it doesn't still happen, it's just that businesses today either have large virtual networks utilising server farms of VMs or they outsource to a company that does it for them. Some even choose to use online cloud services like Google, Microsoft, or others as you can pay them to setup a server for you and all you pay is like a fiver a month per account and get all the benefits of a large network.

The cost benefit of having your own small server and running SBS these days is non-existant.

Sizeable companies have server farms and use the VMs like I outlined, small companies pay for space on someone elses systems that do the same thing.

No one has a server in the office these days sure. Well, again you might run across one in some small business where they don't have some tuned in IT people but the reality is once they do a cost analysis they will find they are losing money with their current process and will move on sure.

your joking, i dont know anyone that doesnt have a server..

jamesd

aidankkk wrote: »

your joking, i dont know anyone that doesnt have a server..

Same here - nearly all have servers.

Cork24

if you want to get into the real backbone of Servers try out a Cluster. set up within Vmware is the best bet.

or even Disk Mirroring RAID

as to what to back up on a Home Server ? ---> Music, Photos, Videos & doc. try backing up your User Account Settings.

once you get into that try a whole System back up with Ghost.. and roll out the OS System over the LAN.

rolion

@CaptainSternn...i think we are not talking about same IT Market,possible not on same planet and/or same time !!

While i do understand and respect your comments,i think that they are a little bit more ahead of rest of us ! Look around...how do you imagine a small office (that is not using SBS2011 for files,email,sharepoint and remote web access) working with non-server setup when they barely afford to "pay" the magical number of 8M ADSL broadband connection ,maybe 12M !?? How do you explain to a local user that sending an email with a big drawing attached will take 5 minutes from one corner to another when the old server based' system was instant !? Just to mention one thing that i see it every day...
I think that your ideea works on a different horisontal market,that is way ahead of us,the small and medium business in Ireland.

What is funny is that OP asked for a basic crappy home-based 2003 setup and troubleshouting and we are talking about cloud,cluster and...dunno !

Let's get back to OP...how did you managed to screw your first installation !?
To be honest with you,since maybe 2005 i never had a single server that i need it to reinstall from scratch...If you use certified hardware (Dell,HP,IBM-in alpha order) and latest OS with drivers and updates,keep it happy running for years !!

What kind of backups we can have here in real world are:

-backup single Domain Controller in a Single AD Domain
-backup SBS2008 /2011,single DC
-backup multiple Domain Controllers in a Single Domain
-backup multiple DCs in multiple Forests / Domains


From a SysAdmin perspective:
-backup your Active Directory every day/week/month if many changes are being done,minimum once a month !
-backup your System Status with Windows Backup
-backup your Shadow Copies

From a user perspective:
-shared folders only
-home directories,if they are or not offline file mode enabled
-exchange database,full and brick-level modes
-other databases that might need backed up with third party software and agents

That should give you a minimum peace of mind.

As an extra layer of protection:
-for single DC,you can clone the server ,but make sure AD is "refreshed" every 30 days
-for dual DCs,just assure the Global Catalogs are replicating AD database between themselves
-create dual DNS and DHCP on more than one DC server for full Network Services redundancy.

Minium should keep you going for a short while !
If you use cloning on more than a DC server setup,then you restore that image...make sure you do a proper restore of AD database mode...

Get your books on Server 2008 ,read them ,get certified and have fun !

Do not let server(s) to take over your private life,always set the mark between them...

Good luck !!!

vibe666

Cork24 wrote: »

if you want to get into the real backbone of Servers try out a Cluster. set up within Vmware is the best bet.

or even Disk Mirroring RAID

as to what to back up on a Home Server ? ---> Music, Photos, Videos & doc. try backing up your User Account Settings.

once you get into that try a whole System back up with Ghost.. and roll out the OS System over the LAN.

that's fine for a test environment, but HA & DRS in vmware makes traditional clustering pretty much obsolete in real world applications.

and i'm pretty sure its not a home system if he's trying to backup an exchange server.

CptSternn

I was just pointing out the setup he is testing is outdated to the point none of it will ever be used in a real world environment, not anymore. It's as pointless as setting up a token ring network to test the capabilities sure.

Starting with Exchange 2007 90% of all commands are done via the powershell, meaning no more GUI and you actually have to learn commands which you will type to accomplish the most basic tasks.

It requires the use of SANS and clustering. The above example is great for retronauts or for someone who is looking to kill a Saturday afternoon, but the reality is no place running Exchange today will ever use any setup like that as it is way outdated.

I was just trying to give the OP a heads up on this before they spent days wasting their time on an outdated model sure.

As the poster above me pointed out, virtualisation no matter what you go with - VMWare, Hyper-V, or one of the others all offer solutions which make a traditional backup of the Exchange environment irrelevant and redundant.