NetVault Plug-in for Exchange 11.3 - User Guide

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Full: A Full Backup performs a complete backup of the set of items that have been selected. A Full Backup does not depend on any other backup and can be restored in a single step. In Exchange Server, a Full Backup includes all database files and transaction log files.

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Copy: A Copy Backup backs up the set of items that have been selected without performing a transaction log file truncation. This backup provides a snapshot of the files as they existed at the time of the backup. A Copy Backup should be used to perform a fast, nonintrusive complete backup of an Exchange Server and is commonly used for offline scaling and migration scenarios.

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Incremental: An Incremental Backup backs up the transaction log files of the set of items that have been selected since the most recent Full Backup or Incremental Backup. After the backup is completed, the Exchange Server truncates the transaction logs. This truncation helps maintain the operating health of the Exchange Server.

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Differential: A Differential Backup backs up the transaction log files of the set of items that have been selected since the most recent Full Backup or Incremental Backup. Differential Backups do not perform transaction log truncation, and therefore do not maintain the operating health of the Exchange Server.

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Maximum Number of Parallel Streams: To enable the fastest backups possible, the plug-in uses parallel streams to back up the Storage Groups/Mailbox Databases simultaneously. This option lets you specify the maximum number of parallel streams to use during a backup. The maximum number of parallel streams must meet both of the following conditions:

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Less than or equal to (<=) the number of drives for the backup devices specified on the Target tab.

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Less than Maximum number of Storage Groups/Mailbox Databases that can be created. The following table details the maximum number of Storage Groups/Mailbox Databases allowed by each Exchange Server version and edition:

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Mount unmounted databases before backup: This option mounts any unmounted databases before attempting to back up the database.

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Perform VSS Consistency Check: This option indicates whether a consistency check of the VSS should be performed on the Exchange Storage Groups/Mailbox Databases included in the backup job. Quest recommends that you use this option, which is selected by default.

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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.

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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.

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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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Backup Algorithm in DAG (only available in DAG deployments):

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All Active: If you want the Plug‑in for Exchange on each Mailbox Server to back up only the databases that are active when the backup is performed, select this option.

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Backup Database Copies with the Lowest Activation Preference Number: Select this option if you want the plug-in to select an available database copy. The plug-in selects the copy with the lowest activation preference number for backup. If a database copy is not available for backup or the copy is disabled, the plug-in selects the active database.

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Backup Database Copies with the Highest Activation Preference Number: Select this option if you want the plug-in to select the available database copy with the highest activation preference number. If a database copy is not available for backup or the copy is disabled, the plug-in selects the active database.

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Backup Databases from preferred Exchange Server whenever possible: Select this option if you want to specify a list of preferred Exchange Servers to perform backups from and a list of servers to exclude. The plug-in skips database copies that are in a disabled state.

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If possible Backup Exchange Databases only from the following Exchange Server: If you selected Backup Databases from preferred Exchange Server whenever possible, enter a comma-separated list of Exchange Servers, in order of preference, that should be used to back up the database. If the database, copy or active, is available in the Exchange Server listed first, it is backed up from that server. If not, the plug-in tries the next server in the list, and so on. If there is not an available copy — including the active database — on any of the listed servers, the plug-in uses the server that contains the active database or the database copy with the lowest activation preference number.

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If possible do not Backup Exchange Databases from the following Exchange Server: If you selected Backup Databases from preferred Exchange Server whenever possible, enter a comma-separated list of Exchange Servers, in order of preference, that should not be used to back up the database. The server listed first has the lowest preference. If the database, copy or active, is available on any other Exchange Server, the database is not backed up from the server listed. The plug-in tries to exclude all servers listed in this field. If the database is only available on one of the excluded servers, the plug-in performs the backup using the last server in the list of exclusions.

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Active Copy: To back up the active copy of all Storage Groups, select this option. This option is the default for Standalone deployments, and the only option available for SCC/Failover Cluster deployments or deployments that have Standby Continuous Replication (SCR) enabled for any of the Storage Groups.

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Passive Copy: To back up the passive copy of all Storage Groups, select this option. While available for both CCR and LCR deployments, this option is the default option for CCR deployments and has the following restrictions:

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If SCR is enabled for any of the Storage Groups, even in a CCR and LCR deployment, selecting this option causes the backups to fail. Failure occurs because backups cannot be performed from the passive copy.

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When performing backups of passive data, it is important to ensure that the passive copies in CCR and LCR environments have a state of Healthy in the Exchange Management Console. If the passive copy has a status of Failed, the backup fails. The Failed passive copy can be returned to a Healthy state by deleting it and updating it with the Update-StorageGroupCopy command. For more information about the Update-StorageGroupCopy command, see http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa998853.aspx.

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Mixed (Available only for LCR deployments): Selecting this option backs up the passive copies of all Storage Groups along with active copy Storage Groups that are not LCR enabled. This option is the default and the recommended option for LCR deployments that do not have SCR enabled, and has the following restriction:

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