Acronis Backup Advanced
Version 11.7
BACKING UP MICROSOFT EXCHANGE SERVER DATA
APPLIES TO THE FOLLOWING PRODUCTS
Advanced for Exchange
Copyright Statement
Copyright © Acronis International GmbH, 2002-2016. All rights reserved.
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Acronis patented technologies
Technologies, used in this product, are covered and protected by one or more U.S. Patent Numbers:
7,047,380; 7,275,139; 7,281,104; 7,318,135; 7,353,355; 7,366,859; 7,475,282; 7,603,533; 7,636,824;
7,650,473; 7,721,138; 7,779,221; 7,831,789; 7,886,120; 7,895,403; 7,934,064; 7,937,612; 7,949,635;
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8,225,133; 8,261,035; 8,296,264; 8,312,259; 8,347,137; 8,484,427; 8,645,748; 8,732,121 and patent
pending applications.
2 Copyright © Acronis International GmbH, 2002-2016
Table of contents
1 Important notices ............................................................................................................5
2 Overview .........................................................................................................................6
3 General information ........................................................................................................7
3.1 Agent for Exchange .................................................................................................................... 7
3.2 Supported operating systems .................................................................................................... 7
3.3 Supported Microsoft Exchange Server versions ........................................................................ 7
3.4 Supported backup locations ...................................................................................................... 8
3.5 Permissions for Exchange backup and recovery ....................................................................... 8
3.6 Supported operations with database and mailbox backups ...................................................10
3.7 Supported operations with legacy archives and backups .......................................................10
4 Getting started with Agent for Exchange ........................................................................ 12
4.1 Simple scenario - a single Exchange server .............................................................................12
4.2 Advanced scenario - CDP of an Exchange cluster ....................................................................13
4.2.1 Prerequisites .................................................................................................................................................. 14
4.2.2 Installation ..................................................................................................................................................... 14
4.2.3 Connecting the console to the management server .................................................................................. 15
4.2.4 Creating a deduplicating vault ...................................................................................................................... 15
4.2.5 Backup ............................................................................................................................................................ 16
4.2.6 Recovery ........................................................................................................................................................ 16
5 Backup .......................................................................................................................... 18
5.1 How Exchange data is organized .............................................................................................18
5.2 What data items can be backed up and what backup types are used? ..................................21
5.3 Backup schemes .......................................................................................................................23
5.3.1 Simple scheme............................................................................................................................................... 23
5.3.2 Continuous Data Protection (CDP) scheme ................................................................................................ 24
5.3.3 Manual start scheme .................................................................................................................................... 25
5.3.4 Custom scheme ............................................................................................................................................. 25
5.4 Backup modes ..........................................................................................................................26
5.4.1 Express full backup method ......................................................................................................................... 26
5.4.2 Copy-only backup .......................................................................................................................................... 30
6 Recovery ....................................................................................................................... 31
6.1 What data items can be recovered? ........................................................................................31
6.2 Selecting data to recover .........................................................................................................31
6.2.1 Selecting the Exchange data by using the Data view or Data catalog ....................................................... 32
6.2.2 Selecting the Exchange data by using the Archive view ............................................................................. 33
6.2.3 Searching for specific items in mailboxes and public folders ..................................................................... 34
6.2.4 Point in time selection .................................................................................................................................. 34
6.3 Selecting target destinations for databases or storage groups ...............................................35
6.3.1 Recovering storage groups or databases to the original path ................................................................... 35
6.3.2 Recovering storage groups or databases to a custom path ....................................................................... 35
6.3.3 Recovering databases or storage groups to the specified folder .............................................................. 36
6.4 Selecting target destinations for mailboxes, public folders, or their contents .......................37
3 Copyright © Acronis International GmbH, 2002-2016
6.4.1 Recovering mailboxes, public folders, and their contents to the Exchange server ................................. 37
6.4.2 Recovering mailboxes, public folders, and their contents to a .pst file .................................................... 38
6.5 Using Acronis Active Restore for database recovery ...............................................................40
6.6 Usage examples .......................................................................................................................40
6.6.1 Example 1. Recovering mailboxes to .pst files ............................................................................................ 40
6.6.2 Example 2. Recovering mailboxes to a different mailbox database ......................................................... 41
6.6.3 Example 3. Recovering an accidentally deleted e-mail to the original mailbox ....................................... 42
7 Exchange servers on a management server ..................................................................... 44
7.1 Actions on Exchange servers and clusters ...............................................................................44
7.2 Exchange server or cluster details ...........................................................................................46
8 Backing up and recovering data of Exchange clusters ...................................................... 48
8.1 Supported Exchange cluster configurations ............................................................................48
8.2 How many agents are required for cluster data backup and recovery? .................................50
8.3 Exchange clusters on a management server ...........................................................................50
8.4 Backing up the Exchange cluster data .....................................................................................51
8.5 Recovering data to the Exchange cluster ................................................................................52
8.6 Cluster credentials ...................................................................................................................53
9 Exchange-specific backup options................................................................................... 54
9.1 Metadata collection .................................................................................................................54
9.2 Exclusions from mailbox backup..............................................................................................54
10 Glossary ................................................................................................................... 56
4 Copyright © Acronis International GmbH, 2002-2016
1 Important notices
This document describes backup and recovery of Microsoft Exchange Server data by using Acronis
Backup Advanced for Exchange.
For the most comprehensive information about the functionality provided by Acronis Backup, please
refer to
Acronis Backup Help
Web Help: http://www.acronis.com/en-us/support/documentation/AcronisBackup_11.7/
Built-in context-sensitive Help available in Acronis Backup Management Console by clicking the
question-mark button .
For the purpose of convenience, this information is also presented in other sources. Use the ones
that correspond to your preferences.
Installation information
Installation Help available in your setup program by clicking View Installation Help.
Installation Guide for Acronis Backup Advanced:
http://www.acronis.com/en-us/download/docs/aba11.7/installguide
Information about the core functionality provided by Acronis Backup
User Guide for Acronis Backup Advanced:
http://www.acronis.com/en-us/download/docs/aba11.7/userguide
Command-line interface
Command-Line Reference: http://www.acronis.com/en-us/download/docs/ab11.7/cmdlineref
5 Copyright © Acronis International GmbH, 2002-2016
2 Overview
Acronis Backup enables you to back up the Mailbox server role of Microsoft Exchange Server.
Mailbox servers host mailboxes and public folders. This data is most critical for any Exchange
organization.
The following is a summary of the product's key features.
Support for Microsoft Exchange Server 2016 (p. 7)
Acronis Backup can back up and recover Microsoft Exchange Server 2016 databases. Backup and
recovery of Exchange 2016 mailboxes are not supported.
Express full backup method (p. 26)
This method is based on monitoring changes of the Exchange database files. Once the initial full
backup is taken, all subsequent backups will only back up changes to this database without
needing to read the entire database file. Combining this method with the data deduplication
functionality makes it possible to back up large databases of 1TB or more during business hours
and even over WANs.
Exchange clustering support (p. 48)
Acronis Backup supports SCC, CCR and DAG cluster configurations. You can choose to back up
database replicas rather than active databases for minimal production impact. If the Mailbox role
is moved to another server due to a switchover or a failover, the software will track all
relocations of the data and safely back it up.
Continuous Data Protection (p. 13)
By using Continuous Data Protection, you can revert Exchange data to almost any point in time. If
the most recent transaction log file survived, you can revert Exchange data to the point of failure.
Backup destinations (p. 8)
The backups can be saved to any type of storage supported by Acronis Backup, except for Acronis
Cloud Storage, Acronis Secure Zone, and removable media.
Enhanced granular recovery (p. 31)
Browse Exchange Server database or mailbox backups and recover single or multiple mailboxes
or just specific e-mails. You can also recover calendar items, notes, tasks and journal entries.
New recovery destinations
Besides being able to recover data to a live Exchange server, you can recover
Exchange databases to regular disk folders (p. 36).
E-mails and mailboxes to .pst files (p. 38).
6 Copyright © Acronis International GmbH, 2002-2016
3 General information
3.1 Agent for Exchange
Backing up Exchange data becomes available by using Acronis Backup Agent for Exchange.
The agent is included in the setup program of Acronis Backup Advanced.
The agent is installed with Agent for Windows or on a machine where Agent for Windows is already
installed.
Agent for Exchange requires one of the following licenses:
Acronis Backup Advanced for Exchange
Acronis Backup for Windows Server Essentials
Acronis Backup Advanced for VMware / Hyper-V / RHEV / Citrix XenServer / Oracle VM
Acronis Backup Advanced Universal License
Each of these licenses enables you to install Agent for Windows on the same machine. Therefore, you
can back up the entire machine in addition to Exchange databases and mailboxes.
If Agent for Windows is already installed, you can install Agent for Exchange by using the Acronis
Backup Advanced for Exchange Add-On license.
To use the product in the trial mode, you do not need licenses.
3.2 Supported operating systems
Agent for Exchange can be installed in the following operating systems:
Windows Server 2003/2003 R2 – Standard and Enterprise editions (x86, x64)
Windows Small Business Server 2003/2003 R2
Windows Server 2008 – Standard, Enterprise, and Datacenter editions (x86, x64)
Windows Small Business Server 2008
Windows Server 2008 R2 – Standard, Enterprise, Datacenter, and Foundation editions
Windows Small Business Server 2011 – all editions
Windows Server 2012/2012 R2 – Standard and Datacenter editions
3.3 Supported Microsoft Exchange Server versions
Agent for Exchange supports the following versions of Microsoft Exchange Server:
Microsoft Exchange Server 2016 – all editions.
Microsoft Exchange Server 2013 – all editions, Cumulative Update 1 (CU1) and later.
Microsoft Exchange Server 2007/2010 – all editions, all service packs.
The Messaging API Client and Collaboration Data Objects (version 1.2.1) package must be
installed. To download and install this package, visit
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=36771.
Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 – all editions, SP2 or later.
7 Copyright © Acronis International GmbH, 2002-2016
Hotfix http://support.microsoft.com/kb/908072 must be installed.
Storages
General
Backup specific
Recovery specific
Backup and
Recovery
Express
full
backup
mode
CDP
backup
scheme
Granular
recovery
Recovery
using
Acronis
Active
Restore
Acronis Cloud Storage
- - - - -
Personal vaults
+ - + + +
Acronis Secure Zone
- - - - -
Centralized vaults
+
+
Dedup.
vaults
only
+ + +
Local folders
+ - + + +
Removable media (CD, DVD, BD, Floppy), and
external storages (RDX, USB HDD, USB Flash
Drives) in the "Removable media" mode.
- - - - -
External storages (RDX, USB HDD, USB Flash
Drives) in the "Fixed drive" mode.
+ - + + +
Tape devices
+ - - - -
Network folders
+ - + + +
FTP/SFTP
+ - - + -
Note It is important to keep your Exchange servers up-to-date. This ensures the best performance, integrity and
security for all Exchange services and data.
3.4 Supported backup locations
The table below shows which of Acronis Backup backup locations are supported by Agent for
Exchange.
3.5 Permissions for Exchange backup and recovery
The table below contains the minimal permissions required to back up and recover Exchange server
data.
When creating a backup plan, ensure that the account with the required permissions is specified
in What to back up > Access credentials.
When creating a recovery task, ensure that the account with the required permissions is
specified in Where to recover > Access credentials.
To be able to back up, recover, and browse mailboxes, ensure that the account you use resides in
the same forest as the Exchange server and is associated with a mailbox. The mailbox database
containing the associated mailbox must be mounted. The mailbox has to be initialized. In
Microsoft Exchange Server 2003, 2007, and 2010, the mailbox has to be available in a global
address list.
8 Copyright © Acronis International GmbH, 2002-2016
Exchange
Server
version
Backup
Recovery
Database backup
(with the Metadata
collection (p. 54)
option set to Include
list of mailboxes)
Mailbox backup and
database backup
(with the Metadata
collection (p. 54) option
set either to Include
mailboxes and folders
or to Include e-mails)
Database recovery
Mailbox recovery
2003
Membership in
Domain backup
operators group.
http://technet.micro
soft.com/en-us/librar
y/bb123926(EXCHG.6
5).aspx
Full Exchange
administrator rights for
the domain.
http://technet.microsoft
.com/en-us/library/bb12
3926(EXCHG.65).aspx
Full Exchange
administrator rights for
the domain.
http://technet.microsof
t.com/en-us/library/bb
123926(EXCHG.65).asp
x
Full Exchange
administrator rights
for the domain.
http://technet.micros
oft.com/en-us/library/
bb123926(EXCHG.65).
aspx
2007
Membership in the
local Backup
Operators group, or
Membership in the
local Administrators
group.
http://technet.micro
soft.com/en-us/librar
y/bb123693(EXCHG.8
0).aspx
Membership in
Exchange Recipient
Administrator role on
the server that holds the
target mailbox.
http://technet.microsoft
.com/en-us/library/aa99
7694(EXCHG.80).aspx
Membership in
Exchange Organization
Administrators group
(required for storage
group creation).
http://technet.microsof
t.com/en-us/library/bb
310792(EXCHG.80).asp
x
Membership in
Exchange Recipient
Administrator role on
the server that holds
the target mailbox.
http://technet.micros
oft.com/en-us/library/
aa997694(EXCHG.80).
aspx
2010
Membership in
Organization
Management role
group.
http://technet.micro
soft.com/en-us/librar
y/dd638132(v=exchg.
141).aspx
Membership in
Organization
Management and Server
Management role
groups.
http://technet.microsoft
.com/en-us/library/dd63
8132(v=exchg.141).aspx
Membership in
Organization
Management role
group.
http://technet.microsof
t.com/en-us/library/dd
638132(v=exchg.141).a
spx
Membership in
Organization
Management and
Server Management
role groups.
http://technet.micros
oft.com/en-us/library/
dd638132(v=exchg.14
1).aspx
2013
Membership in
Organization
Management role
group.
http://technet.micro
soft.com/en-us/librar
y/dd638132(v=exchg.
150).aspx
N/A
Membership in
Organization
Management role
group.
http://technet.microsof
t.com/en-us/library/dd
638132(v=exchg.150).a
spx
N/A
2016
Membership in
Organization
Management role
group.
http://technet.micro
soft.com/en-us/librar
y/dd638132.aspx
N/A
Membership in
Organization
Management role
group.
http://technet.microsof
t.com/en-us/library/dd
638132.aspx
N/A
9 Copyright © Acronis International GmbH, 2002-2016
3.6 Supported operations with database and mailbox
Functionality
Database backup
Mailbox backup
Backup
Simplified naming of
backup files
N/A
N/A
Custom backup scheme >
Retention rules >
Advanced Settings
There is no option to consolidate an
Exchange backup to be moved or
deleted that has dependencies. For
more information, see the Custom
scheme (p. 25) section.
N/A
Operations with backups in vaults
Exporting backups
Backups that have no dependencies
are exported without any
limitations.
When exporting a transaction log
backup, the data from the backup
chain (a full database backup and its
dependent transaction log backups
up to the selected one) is copied to a
single backup.
Transaction log files will be applied
to the database during recovery.
Backups that have no dependencies
are exported without any limitations.
When exporting an incremental
mailbox backup, the data from the
backup chain (a full mailbox backup
and all of its incremental backups up
to the selected one) is consolidated
into a single backup.
Converting a backup to
full
N/A
N/A
Deleting backups
Backups that have no dependencies are deleted without any limitations.
A backup that has dependencies cannot be deleted separately from all its
dependent backups.
To delete a backup with dependencies manually, you should delete the
entire backup chain (a full backup and all its dependent transaction log
backups or incremental backups).
If you set the retention rules to delete backups older than the specified age,
the outdated backup (marked with the icon) will be kept until all
backups that depend on it also become outdated. Then, all the chain will be
deleted at once.
backups
This section describes how the standard Acronis Backup operations are supported for database and
mailbox backups.
3.7 Supported operations with legacy archives and
Acronis Backup supports archives and backups created with Acronis Recovery for Microsoft Exchange.
The table below shows which actions are available for legacy archives and backups.
10 Copyright © Acronis International GmbH, 2002-2016
backups
Operation
Support
Database recovery (recovery of information store, storage groups, and
databases)
Recovery point: Date and time of backup creation
Yes
Recovery point: Point of failure
No
Recovery point: Custom point in time
No
Destination: Original path
Yes
Destination: A custom path within Microsoft Exchange Server
Yes
Destination: A custom folder on a file system
Yes
Mailbox recovery (mailboxes, public folders, e-mails, calendar items, etc)
Destination: Recover to Microsoft Exchange Server
Yes
Destination: Recover to a .pst file
Yes
Other operations
Back up to an existing archive
No
Browsing the backup contents tree down to individual e-mails
Yes
Cataloging
No
In-archive search
Yes
Exporting backups from archives
Yes
Deleting individual backups from archives
No
Deleting archives
Yes
You cannot view the contents of or recover data from the backups created by Acronis Recovery for Microsoft
Exchange, if the backups are located on tapes. To recover data from an old backup, export this backup from
tapes to another vault.
11 Copyright © Acronis International GmbH, 2002-2016
4 Getting started with Agent for Exchange
This section lets you quickly implement the most common backup and recovery scenarios for
stand-alone Exchange servers as well as for Exchange cluster environments.
4.1 Simple scenario - a single Exchange server
The following steps will guide you through the installation and basic use of Acronis Backup in simple
Exchange organizations.
Let's assume you have a single Exchange server that hosts all Exchange services and stores all
Exchange data. Considering the typical size of the server data, the frequency and the amount of the
typical data changes, a reasonable backup strategy for such a server is a nightly full backup and an
hourly transaction log backup.
Prerequisites
Ensure that:
You have a machine running one of the supported Microsoft Exchange Server versions (p. 7).
You have a license that enables installation of Agent for Exchange (p. 7).
You downloaded the setup program for Acronis Backup Advanced.
The Exchange writer for VSS is turned on. In Windows Small Business Server 2003, the writer is
turned off by default. For instructions on how to turn it on, see the following Microsoft
Knowledge Base article http://support.microsoft.com/kb/838183/.
Installation
In this step, you will install Agent for Exchange and the management console on the machine running
Exchange Server.
1. Log on to the machine as a domain administrator and start the setup program.
2. Click Install Acronis Backup. Accept the terms of the license agreement.
3. Select the Back up this machine's data check box, and on the next page ensure that the
Microsoft Exchange Server check box is selected.
4. When prompted for licenses, select I purchased a license or a subscription.
5. Type in your license key or import it from a file.
6. Ensure that the proper license is selected, and then click Next.
7. Leave the default I will register the component(s) later setting.
8. Choose whether the machine will participate in the Acronis Customer Experience Program (CEP).
9. Proceed with the installation.
Running Acronis Backup
To start the management console, either double-click the Acronis Backup icon on the desktop, or
select from the Start menu: Acronis > Acronis Backup Management Console > Acronis Backup.
Backup
In this step, you will set nightly full backups and hourly transaction log backups of the entire
information store.
12 Copyright © Acronis International GmbH, 2002-2016
1. Make sure that circular logging is disabled for all databases or storage groups of the Exchange
server. Otherwise, the transaction log backup will fail.
2. In the management console, click Create backup plan.
3. Under What to back up section, click Items to back up. In Data to back up, select Microsoft
Exchange Information Store. In the data tree, expand the machine and select the Microsoft
Exchange Information Store check box under the machine's name. Then, click OK.
4. Under Where to back up section, click Location, and specify the location where the backups will
be stored.
5. Under How to back up section:
a. In Backup scheme, select Custom.
b. In Full backup, click Add schedule. Select Daily and set up the schedule as follows: Every: 1
day(s), Once at: 09:00:00 PM.
c. In Transaction log, click Add schedule. Select Daily and set up the schedule as follows: Every:
1 day(s), Every: 1 Hour(s).
6. Click OK to save the backup plan.
Details. You will see the Backup plans and tasks view with the backup plan you have just created.
In this view, you can check the backup plan's status, monitor its execution state, run or stop the
plan, and more.
Recovery
In this step, you will recover a mailbox to the original mailbox database. To recover an entire
database or storage group, use the procedure described in the advanced scenario (p. 13) (see under
"Recovery", starting from step 2).
1. In the Navigation tree, expand Vaults > Personal and then select the folder where you saved the
archives. If prompted, provide access credentials for the vault.
2. On the Data view tab, select Microsoft Exchange Mailboxes in the Show list.
3. In the catalog tree, select the mailbox that you need to recover. Under Versions, select the date
and time of backup creation. The mailbox will be recovered to this point.
4. Click Recover.
5. Under Where to recover, in Data paths, select Microsoft Exchange Server.
6. Choose what to do if the software finds in the original path the mailbox items with the same IDs
as in the backup:
Overwrite existing items - this is the default setting that fits most situations.
Do not overwrite existing items - this setting will let you retain the changes made to the
items after the backup had been created.
7. Click OK to start the recovery.
Details. You will see the window with the recovery activity progress and details.
4.2 Advanced scenario - CDP of an Exchange cluster
This section gives an example of backing up multiple Exchange servers that are integrated into a
cluster. Let's see how to leverage the advanced features: Continuous Data Protection (CDP), express
full backup, and data deduplication.
To be able to revert Exchange data to any custom point in time, we will use the CDP backup
scheme (p. 24). In this scheme, you specify when to perform full backups. In addition, the
13 Copyright © Acronis International GmbH, 2002-2016
transaction log files are backed up automatically as soon as they are closed by Exchange. In our
case, assume full backups will be performed every night.
To create full backups faster and for them to occupy much less space, we will do full backups to a
deduplicating vault by using the express full backup method (p. 26). With this method, the
software backs up only the changes that have occurred since the previous full backup. Since the
unchanged data is already stored in the deduplicating vault, the software only adds a reference
to the unchanged data.
To relieve the production server from the load associated with backup operations, we will
configure the software to back up the cluster data from any of its passive database copies. If
none of the passive copies are available at the moment, we allow the software to back up the
active database copy.
As for recovery, let's consider a case, where you need to quickly recover a lost or corrupted Exchange
database to the state that it was just before the failure. To allow users to access their e-mails while
the Exchange database is still being recovered, we will use Acronis Active Restore (p. 40).
4.2.1 Prerequisites
Make sure that:
You have machines running the supported versions of Microsoft Exchange Server (p. 7).
You have one of the supported Exchange cluster configurations (p. 48).
For each node of the cluster, you have a license that enables installation of Agent for Exchange (p.
7).
The Exchange writer for VSS is turned on.
You downloaded the setup program of Acronis Backup Advanced.
You have a machine running Windows that will act as the management server. The management
server enables configuring of Exchange cluster backup.
You have a machine running 64-bit Windows that will act as the storage node. The storage node
serves as storage for backups of other machines and enables deduplication. Make sure this
machine meets the system requirements described in the installation documentation.
4.2.2 Installation
Installing the management server
1. On the machine that will act as the management server, log on as an administrator and start the
setup program.
2. Click Install Acronis Backup. Accept the terms of the license agreement.
3. Select the Centrally monitor and configure the backing up of physical and virtual machines
check box.
4. Type your license keys or import them from a text file.
5. Proceed with the installation.
Details. The console will also be installed so that you can control the management server locally.
Installing Agent for Exchange
Perform the following steps on each node of the cluster.
1. Log on to a cluster node as domain administrator and start the setup program.
2. Click Install Acronis Backup. Accept the terms of the license agreement.
14 Copyright © Acronis International GmbH, 2002-2016
3. Select the Back up this machine's data check box, and on the next page ensure that the
Microsoft Exchange Server check box is selected.
4. When prompted for licenses, select I purchased a license or a subscription.
5. Select the Use the following license server check box, and then specify the name or IP address of
the machine where you installed the management server.
Details. The license server is integrated with the management server.
6. Ensure that the proper licenses are selected, and then click Next.
7. Click Register now. Specify the name or IP address of the machine where you installed the
management server. Provide the user name and password of an administrator on that machine.
8. Specify whether the machine with the Exchange server will participate in the Acronis Customer
Experience Program (CEP).
9. Proceed with the installation.
Details. The console will also be installed on each machine.
Installing the storage node
1. On the machine that will act as the storage node, log on as an administrator and start the setup
program.
2. Click Install Acronis Backup. Accept the terms of the license agreement.
3. Select the Store the backups of other machines on this machine check box.
4. Click Register now. Specify the name or IP address of the machine where you installed the
management server. Provide the user name and password of a user who is a member of the
Acronis Centralized Admins group on the management server's machine.
5. Proceed with the installation.
[Optional] Installing the management console
Install the console on a machine from which you prefer to operate, if this machine is not the
management server and does not have an agent.
1. Run the setup program and click Install Acronis Backup.
2. After accepting the terms of the license agreement, select the Connect to remote machines
check box.
3. Follow the on-screen instructions.
4.2.3 Connecting the console to the management server
To connect the console to the management server:
1. Click Connect to a management server.
2. Enter the server name or IP address.
3. If prompted for credentials, specify the user name and password. The user has to be a member
of the Acronis Remote Users and the Acronis Centralized Admins groups on the server.
4.2.4 Creating a deduplicating vault
1. Connect the console to the management server.
2. Click Storage nodes in the Navigation pane.
3. Select the storage node, then click Create vault.
4. In Name, type the name of the vault.
5. In Deduplication, select On.
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6. Click Path and then specify the path to the network share where the backups will be stored.
7. Click Deduplication database and then specify the path to the deduplication database.
Details. To get maximum benefit from the deduplication, we recommend that you locate the
deduplication database and the vault on separate physical devices. For more recommendations,
see the "Deduplication best practices" section in either the product Help or the User Guide for
Acronis Backup Advanced.
8. Click OK to create the deduplicating vault.
4.2.5 Backup
1. Connect the console to the management server.
2. Click Create backup plan.
3. Under What to back up:
a. Click Show access credentials, exclusions. In the Access credentials, specify the credentials
required to access the source data.
Details. To access the Exchange cluster data, a domain user account that has administrative
privileges on each of the cluster nodes is required.
When entering the name of an Active Directory user account, be sure to also specify the
domain name (DOMAIN\Username or Username@domain).
b. Click Items to back up. In data to back up, select Exchange information store. In the catalog
tree, select the Exchange cluster. In the data tree, expand the cluster and select the Exchange
information store check box under the cluster's name. The cluster databases or storage
groups are displayed as single instances regardless of the number of copies they have within
the cluster.
4. Under Where to back up, select the deduplicating vault created previously.
5. Under How to back up:
a. In Backup scheme, choose Continuous Data Protection (CDP).
b. In Schedule, select Daily and set up the schedule as follows: Every: 1 day(s), Once at:
11:59:00 PM.
c. In Cluster backup mode, choose Passive (replica) and select to Back up active if none of the
passive copies are available.
Note: To back up transaction log files, disable circular logging for all databases or storage
groups in Exchange. Otherwise, the backup task will fail.
d. Click Show backup type, validation to access the Backup type setting.
e. In Backup type, select Create full backups using the Express full backup method.
6. If required, set up the rest of the backup plan settings.
7. Click OK to create the backup plan.
Details. You will see the Backup plans and tasks view with the backup plan you have just created.
In this view, you can check the backup plan's status, monitor its execution state, run or stop the
plan, and more.
4.2.6 Recovery
1. Connect the console to the one of the available cluster nodes.
2. In the Navigation tree, expand Vaults > Centralized and then select the vault where you saved
the backups.
3. In the Data view tab, in Show, select Microsoft Exchange Information Store.
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4. In the catalog tree, select the database that you need to recover. Under Versions, select Point of
failure.
5. Click Recover.
6. Under Where to recover section:
a. In Data paths, select Original.
b. In Mount recovered databases, select Mount with Active Restore.
7. Leave the rest of the setting "as is" and click OK to start the recovery.
Details. You will see the window with the recovery activity progress and details.
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5 Backup
This section describes only the steps and settings that are specific for backing up Microsoft Exchange
Server data. The whole procedure of backup plan creation and common backup plan settings, such as
selecting backup locations, setting up backup replication, retention and validation are described in
the "Backup" section of the product Help or the User Guide for Acronis Backup Advanced.
Back up now
Use the Back up now to do a one-time backup of the Exchange server's data in a few simple steps.
The backup process will start immediately after you perform the required steps and click OK.
Create backup plan
Create a backup plan, if you need a long-term backup strategy including backup schemes, schedules,
timely deleting of backups, or moving them to different locations.
Create a backup plan on a managed machine to back up data of an individual Exchange server.
Create a backup plan on the management server to back up data of the supported Exchange clusters.
For more information, see "Backing up and recovering data of Exchange clusters" (p. 48). By backing
up individual Exchange servers with backup plans on the management server, you obtain a single
point to manage and monitor activities related to data protection.
5.1 How Exchange data is organized
Information store
Microsoft Exchange Server stores its data in a single repository called information store (in Exchange
2003/2007), Exchange store (in Exchange 2010), or Managed store (in Exchange 2013 or later). The
primary components of the information store are storage groups (for Exchange 2003/2007 only) and
Exchange databases.
Exchange database
There are two types of Exchange databases.
A mailbox database stores contents of mailboxes. Mailbox content is private to the mailbox user.
A public folder database stores public folders data. Public folder content is shared among
multiple users. Public folder databases exist in Exchange versions earlier than Exchange 2013.
Either type database stores the data in the following files:
Database file (.edb)
Contains message headers, message text, and standard attachments.
An Exchange 2003/2007 database uses two files: .edb for text data and .stm for MIME data.
Transaction log files (.log)
Contains the history of changes made to the database. Only after a change has been securely
logged, it is then written to the database file. This approach guarantees a reliable recovery of the
database in a consistent state in case of a sudden database interruption.
Each log file is 1024 KB in size. When an active log file is full, Exchange closes it and creates a new
log file.
Checkpoint file (.chk)
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