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NetVault Plug-in for Exchange 10.0.5 - User Guide

Introducing Dell™ NetVault™ Backup Plug-in for Exchange Defining an Exchange data protection strategy Planning your Exchange Server deployment Installing and removing the plug-in Configuring the plug-in Backing up data Restoring data Troubleshooting

Reviewing Authentication Details (Windows user account permissions)

Before initiating a backup, you must configure the plug-in’s authentication details and select the Backup Method.
The Plug‑in for Exchange uses Windows® Authentication to provide essential security and access control for sensitive data contained in an Exchange Server’s databases. Windows Authentication allows you to log on to a specific Windows user account. You can configure this Windows user account to restrict a user’s privileges so that only backups can be performed, or to allow both backups and restores to be performed.
For a user to back up Exchange, the Windows user account used must:
•
Be a valid domain or local account.
•
Be a member of the Power Users group.
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Be a member of the domain’s Backup Operators group (for domain accounts).
•
Be a member of the Backup Operators group on the machine that Exchange is running on.
To perform a restore of Exchange, the Windows user account must be a member of the Administrators group on the machine that Exchange is running on.
The Domain Administrator account has all the permissions necessary to perform backup and restore procedures in the Plug‑in for Exchange by default.
 
* 
NOTE: The NetVault Process Manager Service Log on as account must be a Local System or an Exchange Administrator Account.

Configuring the plug-in

The plug-in lets you set default options for backup and restore jobs. You can override these options on a per-job basis.
1
In the Navigation Pane, click Create Backup Job, and click Create New next to the Selections list.
2
In the selection tree, open the applicable client node, and select Plug‑in for Exchange.
3
From the Actions list, select Configure.
The Exchange Server Configuration dialog box appears. The Server Name field, which displays the machine name of the Exchange Server, cannot be edited.
4
If you are using Exchange 2007, complete the following steps:
a
From the Server Role list, select the applicable role:
•
Standalone Server
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Local Continuous Replication (LCR)
•
Single Copy Cluster (SCC)
•
Cluster Continuous Replication (CCR)
b
In the Default Backup Method section, select the method to use for this server:
•
Extensible Storage Engine (ESE)
•
Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS)
The plug-in supports implementing an ESE or a pure VSS-backup strategy; that is, your backup strategy should include either ESE backups or VSS backups, but not a combination of the two. For more information, see Defining an Exchange data protection strategy.
5
In the Authentication Details section, edit the following fields:
•
Exchange Administrator User Name: Enter either a local or domain Windows® account that meets the criteria specified in Reviewing Authentication Details (Windows user account permissions). When the Exchange Server Configuration dialog box is opened, this account appears by default in the Exchange Administrator User Name field.
•
Password: Enter the password associated with the specified user name. For security reasons, this field appears blank by default.
•
Windows Domain: If a domain account is specified in the Exchange Administrator User Name field, enter the name of the domain. The field can be left blank if a local system account is specified. When the Exchange Server Configuration dialog box is opened, this domain appears by default in the Windows Domain field.
6
In the Additional Options section, select the default action for Incomplete Backup of All Items Selected.
When multiple items are included in a backup and the plug-in is unable to back up all the selected items, the plug-in lets you specify what action the backup should take. For example, if a job includes multiple Storage Groups/Mailbox Databases and the backup of all but one is successful, you can specify what action the backup job should take.
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Complete with Warnings — Saveset Retained: The job returns a status of “Backup Completed with warnings” and a backup saveset is created that includes the items that were successfully backed up.
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Complete without Warnings — Saveset Retained: The job completes and returns a status of “Backup Completed.” The errors are logged in the NetVault Backup binary logs and ignored on the Job Status page. A backup saveset is created that includes the items that were backed up.
•
Fail — Saveset Retained: The job returns a status of “Backup Failed.” However, a backup saveset is generated that includes the items that were successfully backed up.
•
Fail — No Saveset Retained: The job returns a status of “Backup Failed” and no saveset of backed-up objects is kept. That is, even if some of the objects were successfully backed up, the saveset is discarded.
 
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IMPORTANT: You can override the selected default action selected at the individual backup job level.
7
To specify how frequently the nodes in a DAG or cluster send updates to the plug-in, enter the applicable number in the Monitor Progress Update Interval (in seconds, 0 = continuous) field.
Depending on the number of nodes residing in a group or cluster and the amount of data processed during a backup, a significant number of messages are sent to the plug-in. Use this option to limit how frequently messages are recorded.
8
If you must instruct the plug-in to ignore warnings resulting from the Exchange integrity check, select the Ignore Warning when Consistency Check does not Return Operation Results (Not Recommended) check box.
 
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CAUTION: By default, the plug-in returns a warning if results to the consistency check of the Exchange database are not returned. This issue causes backup jobs to Complete with Warnings. If you know that the consistency check cannot return results because of how your Exchange environment is configured, this option lets you instruct the plug-in to ignore the warning. Dell discourages use of this option.
9
To save the settings, click OK.
With the authentication details properly configured, you can click the Exchange Server node to display the available Storage Groups/Mailbox Databases.

Backing up data

•
Performing backups

Performing backups

The procedure for performing backups using the plug-in includes the steps outlined in the following sections:
•
Selecting data for a backup
•
Setting backup options
•
Finalizing and submitting the job
Selecting data for a backup
You must use sets (Backup Selection Set, Backup Options Set, Schedule Set, Target Set, and Advanced Options Set) to create a backup job.
Backup Selection Sets are essential for Incremental and Differential Backups. You must create the Backup Selection Set during a Full Backup, and use it for Full, Incremental, and Differential Backups. The backup job reports an error if you do not use a Selection Set for the Incremental or Differential Backup. For more information, see the Dell NetVault Backup Administrator’s Guide.
To create a Backup Selection Set:
1
In the Navigation pane, click Create Backup Job.
You can also start the wizard from the Guided Configuration link. In the Navigation pane, click Guided Configuration. On the NetVault Configuration Wizard page, click Create backup jobs.
2
In Job Name, specify a name for the job.
Assign a descriptive title that lets you easily identify the job when monitoring its progress or restoring data. The job name can contain alphanumeric and non-alphanumeric characters, but it cannot contain non-Latin characters. On Windows®, there is no length restriction; however, a maximum of 40 characters is recommended.
3
Next to the Selections list, click Create New.
4
In the list of plug-ins, open Plug‑in for Exchange, and drill down to the name of the Exchange Server or Exchange Virtual Server and its available nodes.
5
If you are using Exchange 2007, complete the following steps:
a
Expand the applicable Microsoft Information Store to display all the Storage Groups contained within. You can also open an individual group to display all databases contained within that group.
b
Select the data that you want to back up by clicking the box to the left of that item (that is, to mark it with a green check). You can also select groups as follows:
•
Entire Exchange Server
•
Entire Microsoft Information Store
•
Individual Storage Groups
•
Sets of Storage Groups
•
Individual Databases
•
Groups of Databases
Selecting the Microsoft Exchange Server node is equivalent to selecting the Exchange Server or Virtual Server Node, in that all databases on the Exchange Server are backed up. However, selecting the Microsoft Exchange Server node enables creating a selection set that can be used across multiple installations of Plug‑in for Exchange.
 
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IMPORTANT: Backing up individual databases might affect the behavior of log truncation for all databases in the Storage Group. This issue might result in excess log files in the backup, premature truncation of log files, or deferred truncation of log files, depending on the conditions in your environment and the Exchange Server version (including patches) in use.

If an individual database is selected for a VSS-based backup, the entire Storage Group is backed up because VSS backups are performed only at the Storage Group level.
6
If you are using Exchange 2010 or later, complete the following steps:
a
Expand the applicable Exchange Server to display all the Mailbox Databases contained within
b
Select the data that you want to back up by clicking the box to the left of that item (that is, to mark it with a green check). You can also select the entire Exchange Server.
Selecting the Microsoft Exchange Server node is equivalent to selecting the Exchange Server or NetVault Backup Virtual Client, in that all databases included in the DAG are backed up. However, selecting the Microsoft Exchange Server node enables creating a selection set that can be used across multiple installations of Plug‑in for Exchange.
7
Click Save, enter a name in the Create New Set dialog box, and click Save.
The name can contain alphanumeric and non-alphanumeric characters, but it cannot contain non-Latin characters. On Windows®, there is no length restriction. However, a maximum of 40 characters is recommended on all platforms.
To use an existing Backup Selection Set:
1
In the Navigation pane, click Create Backup Job.
You can also start the wizard from the Guided Configuration link. In the Navigation pane, click Guided Configuration. On the NetVault Configuration Wizard page, click Create backup jobs.
2
In the Selections list, select an existing Backup Selection Set.
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