Backup Exchange 2007 using Windows Server Backup

Summary: At last, there is an easy, cost effective solution to the problem that Windows Server Backup on Server 2008 cannot natively backup Exchange Server 2007.

BackupAssist’s plug-in into Windows Server Backup for Exchange Server 2007 allows you to correctly backup Exchange Server 2007, performing the necessary database integrity checks and log file truncation, thereby overcoming a critical flaw in the in-built Microsoft backup infrastructure.

Update: you can now perform live backups of Exchange Server 2003, 2007 and 2010 using VSS with the File Replication, Zip, Rsync and Windows Imaging engines. Simply choose your Exchange Server from the list of detected applications (you can even drill down and choose individual storage groups, etc). Read more about this here.

A critical, long standing limitation of the backup application in Windows Server 2008 is its inability to backup Exchange Server 2007. This flaw has been extensively documented on the Internet and incurred the wrath of many a system administrator. This meant that users had to go back to using sometimes expensive and complicated 3rd party backup tools.

However, with the recent release of BackupAssist v5.2, you have an inexpensive, lightweight solution that enables you to correctly backup Exchange Server 2007. Additionally, the restore procedures are fully Microsoft-integrated so you can restore either the application itself, or your entire server from bare metal, from within the Windows Server Backup UI.

And you can achieve this for a fraction of the cost of many other 3rd party Exchange backup products.

Setting up the Exchange Server 2007 Backup

When you set up and run a Windows Imaging job from within BackupAssist, BackupAssist will automatically detect when Exchange 2007 is installed. If so, it will automatically instruct Windows Server Backup to use the VSS writer for Exchange to commit all databases before the backup. Then, the BackupAssist Exchange 2007 Plug-in for Windows Server Backup will verify the consistency of the Exchange databases, and once verified the backup will proceed.

You must, of course, make sure that you’ve selected the appropriate volumes to backup! If Exchange Server is on your E: drive, make sure you select E: for backup!

A record of the Exchange consistency check is provided in the backup report - and an example screenshot is provided below.

Restoring Exchange Server 2007

When restoring Exchange Server 2007, you have several options:

Restoring the entire server back to the original location − ie. restoring over the top of an existing Exchange Server. This is documented in our article, Exchange 2007 Restore
Restoring an individual storage group
Restoring an individual storage group to a Recovery Storage Group − this is documented in our article, Restoring Exchange 2007 to a Recovery Storage Group
Merging one or more mailboxes from the Recovery Storage Group to the live storage group, as documented in our article, Merging Exchange 2007 mailboxes with a Recovery Storage Group

Try BackupAssist Today

At last, an easy way to backup Exchange Server 2007! And best of all, BackupAssist is available for a free 30 day trial. Download your trial today!