Computer Performance, Exchange 2003

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Microsoft Exchange 2003 - Disaster Recovery Planning

Introduction to Exchange 2003 Disaster Recovery

Compared with previous versions, Exchange 2003 brings big improvements to disaster recovery.  My advice is to actively seek out new features; for example, the Mailbox Recover Center and Recovery Storage Group.

Topics for Exchange 2003 Disaster Recovery Planning

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Restoring Exchange Mailboxes and Email

When users complain that they have lost their email, Exchange 2003 supplies 4 techniques to retrieve that data.  Deleted Item Recovery and the Mailbox Recovery Center will enable you to retrieve email without resorting to backup tapes.  When you do need to restore from backup then, try the new Recovery Storage Group feature.  Save the Alternative Forest with its .pst files as a last resort for disaster recovery.

  1. Deleted Item Recovery  - Set up the mailstores on the Exchange 2003 server, then Outlook clients can retrieve their lost email.
  2. Mailbox Recover Center - Reconnect deleted mailboxes.
  3. Recovery Storage Group - Re-unite an existing user with their old mailbox.
  4. Alternative Forest - Recover to a machine in a different Forest. (Last resort).

Exchange 2003 Restore

Research from companies such as Forrester, show that 35% of all backup tapes do not contain what people expect.  This is a horrifying statistic.  The only sure way to check that you have a reliable disaster recovery plan is to test a full restore.  Of all the Microsoft products to restore, Exchange 2003 is the most complex; there are just so many factors and so much dependency.
See more on Recovery Options     See more on Restore Planning

Exchange 2003 Backup

I have broken with tradition and described restore before backup - this was deliberate.  The reason was that I wanted to emphasise that restore should dictate to backup and not the other way around.  However, I admit that without a good backup, there can be no restore.

  1. The important new backup feature in Exchange 2003 is Volume Shadow Copy.
  2. To plan a successful disaster recovery strategy, take the time to investigate how the mail databases, transaction logs and checkpoint files interact. See more on Backup Planning here
  3. Exchange 2003 supports 3 main backup methods. See more on Backup Methods here
  4. Assess all areas for risks and make sure that your plan has no obvious weak links.

Kiwi Syslog Server - Free Utility to Analyze Your Network Messages

Syslog messages are full of information for troubleshooting network problems.  When something goes wrong then surely there will be an error message in the syslog datagram - if only we can find that record and interpret the event.  What will help to capture and analyze such network messages is the Kiwi Syslog Server.

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Disaster Horror Stories

Learn from other peoples mistakes.  Remember Murphy's first law, what ever can go wrong, will go wrong.  I have tales of unlucky or unfortunate Exchange calamities.  See disaster horror stories.

Crash Cart

On a positive note, take the time to fill a trolley with all the hardware and software that you will need to recover an Exchange 2003 server.  More ideas for a crash cart.

Kiwi Syslog Server - Free Utility to Analyze Your Network Messages

Syslog messages are full of information for troubleshooting network problems.  When something goes wrong then surely there will be an error message in the syslog datagram - if only we can find that record and interpret the event.  What will help to capture and analyze such network messages is the Kiwi Syslog Server.

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Circular Logging

Avoid circular logging.  Circular logging is only for low disk situations.  If you enable circular logging you severely restrict your ability to restore Exchange databases.  See more here

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Exchange 2003 Disaster Recovery - Summary

Begin your disaster recovery at the Exchange System Manager.  First, try to recover your email using either the Deleted Item Recovery, or the Mailbox Recovery Center.  Only if those strategies fail, would you need to load up the backup tapes and restore the mailboxes.

When it comes to disaster recovery, prevention is always so much better than cure.  As you read through my different strategies, make a list of proactive techniques.  Here are more disaster recovery tips.

See Also

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 SolarWinds Exchange Monitor

Exchange Monitor from SolarWindsHere is a free tool to monitor your Exchange Server.  Download the utility, then inspect your mail queues, monitor Exchange server's memory, confirm there is enough disk space and check the CPU utilization.

Free Download of SolarWinds Exchange Monitor

 

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