[ExchangeList] Re: Restoring mailboxes in Exchange 2000/2003

  • From: "MAHADEVAN Subramanyan" <SMahadevan@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <exchangelist@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Sat, 14 Oct 2006 13:06:05 +0530

Regards, Mahadevan



-----Original Message-----
From: exchangelist-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx on behalf of Taylor, George
Sent: Fri 10/13/2006 7:52 PM
To: exchangelist@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [ExchangeList] Re: Restoring mailboxes in Exchange 2000/2003
 
For me yes, thats absolutly possible.  My forest currently has 12 domain
controllers, so I hope I would never hit a situation of losing the
forest.... :-)
 
Here's what I do, like I said mainly for testing/practice/playing, etc..
I use IBM's Tivoli Storage Manager for all backups, this includes a TDP
for Exchange.  In TSM I create a node called <server>-tdp, let's say
EXCH1-TDP, it does the nightly full backups as well as the hourlys.
 
At the same time I keep a VM running that is a domain controller for our
test domain, as you can see from my address my domain is rcrh.org, test
domain is simply test-rcrh.org.  In that test domain is an Exchange
server, doesn't matter what it's called, the name is not important.
What is important is that when you look at it from System Manager your
Administrative groups are named the same, your storage groups are named
the same and your mailbox stores are named the same, no need for the
databases and logs to be in the same physical location, they can be
anywhere you have space.  Microsoft has some doco on creating the proper
Administrative group when you do the forest and domain prep, I also have
mine I can send you if needed.
 
Fortunatly TSM doesn't care what your server is named, in the options
file you tell it what your name is.  So even though your new Exchange
server is named MAIL you can fool TSM in to believing it's name is
EXCH1, eliminating the need for isolated VLans and such.  I do a full
restore to the date I want and I have my full Exchange environment back,
however i don't have the identical AD environment.  So to get to a
mailbox I have to create a non-mail user in AD and then use System
Manager to attach it to a mailbox.
 
If your at the point of doing an Authoratative restore of AD you won't
have the problem of Exchange and AD being different, your going to be
going back to the same hourly on both.
 
Hope this is half way coherent, havne't had any coffee yet,
 
George Taylor
Systems Programmer
Regional Health Inc.
 

  _____  

From: MAHADEVAN Subramanyan [mailto:SMahadevan@xxxxxxxxxxxx] 
Sent: Thursday, October 12, 2006 8:55 PM
To: exchangelist@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [ExchangeList] Re: Restoring mailboxes in Exchange 2000/2003



Hi George/Rick,

Yep... I agree with you George, users are like that and even i have
faced that situation many times. 

But the one which is given there in the Method 3 is almost like
restoring the exchange database in an exchange server in different
forest.

As Exchange 2000/2003 is very much dependent on Active Directory, how is
it possible to restore a database in an exchange server in different
Active Directory forest? Then what is the purpose of having the Recovery
Storage Group? 

Suppose assume that if you have a single domain controller and an
Exchange 2003 server. If your domain controller is dead and if you do
not have any back up for the domain controller but you have a backup for
your Exchange server, will it be possible to install a separate domain
controller and an Exchange server in that new domain and then restore
the database of the old Exchange server in the newly installed Exchange
server? That is what I understand from the site which I have mentioned.
Correct me if I am wrong...

Regards, Maha

MCSE: Messaging

IT Infrastructure Engineer.

  _____  

From: exchangelist-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:exchangelist-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Taylor, George
Sent: Thursday, October 12, 2006 8:29 PM
To: exchangelist@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [ExchangeList] Re: Restoring mailboxes in Exchange 2000/2003

Actually we use Method 3 here on a semi-regular basis.  Most of the time
it's a user that has some power and they, for whatever reason, want to
go back a year or more and search for some emails.  Another reason is
going to be litigation, if you have a good archive solution in place
this is a moot point.  But the last litigation we had we didn't have an
archive solution in place, so we restored, search, restored next monthly
and searched again and so forth.

The final reason is going to be testing, I don't care about actually
getting data back, I just want a testing environment that is identical
to our production.  It may be for simply testing a patch or practicing a
full blown upgrade, either one I want to be able to easily go back to
our current environment multiple times to test/practice.

Just my thoughts,

George Taylor

Systems Programmer

Regional Health Inc.

  _____  

From: Rick Boza [mailto:rickb@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] 
Sent: Thursday, October 12, 2006 8:34 AM
To: exchangelist@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [ExchangeList] Re: Restoring mailboxes in Exchange 2000/2003

So...given that Russ is right - how is it not practical?  I've
implemented Exchange more than a few times, and managing deleted item
retention effectively is always, ALWAYS better than doing a restore.  

I'm a bit surprised you'd give such a  response, Raj -from what I've
seen you often have pretty well thought out input.  If that's your only
complaint about it, that seems a bit disingenuous to me. 

Anyway, perhaps its personal preference - personally I advocate avoiding
restores whenever possible except in the case of disaster.  Back to the
original topic: what are you asking exactly, and then maybe we can
provide a more meaningful answer.

From: exchangelist-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:exchangelist-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Periyasamy, Raj
Sent: Thursday, October 12, 2006 10:09 AM
To: exchangelist@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [ExchangeList] Re: Restoring mailboxes in Exchange 2000/2003

Yes, you are right

  _____  

From: exchangelist-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:exchangelist-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Russ Clark
Sent: Thursday, October 12, 2006 9:55 AM
To: exchangelist@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [ExchangeList] Re: Restoring mailboxes in Exchange 2000/2003

That is incorrect, you can recover from shift deletes if you have the
dumpsteralwayson registry hack enabled.

Russ Clark

  _____  

From: exchangelist-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:exchangelist-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Periyasamy, Raj
Sent: Thursday, October 12, 2006 8:45 AM
To: exchangelist@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [ExchangeList] Re: Restoring mailboxes in Exchange 2000/2003

I don't think the Ed Crowley Never Restore method is really useful in
practical world. because, 90% of all restore requests are shift deletes.
Shift delete does not send the deleted item to dumpster. Its gone for
good immediately.

HTH. 
Regards, 
Raj Periyasamy 
MCSE(Messaging), CCNA 

  _____  

From: exchangelist-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:exchangelist-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Rick Boza
Sent: Thursday, October 12, 2006 9:31 AM
To: exchangelist@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [ExchangeList] Re: Restoring mailboxes in Exchange 2000/2003

I'm not clear on exactly what you are asking - is the question whether
or not his is viable? Absolutely.  Is it optimal?  No, that's why
Microsoft introduced the recovery storage group.  

But a better solution is the Ed Crowley Never Restore Method (tm)
While it was originally designed around Exchange 5.5, the principles
remain valid through E2K7.


Rick

From: exchangelist-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:exchangelist-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of MAHADEVAN
Subramanyan
Sent: Thursday, October 12, 2006 3:31 AM
To: exchangelist@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [ExchangeList] Restoring mailboxes in Exchange 2000/2003

Sorry Guys...Am posting this question again...

While surfing the net i got this info from one of the Microsoft site
which states that the exchange database can be restored in the different
exchange server with same Org name and Structure in different forest.
Here is the site

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/823176 (have a glimpse at Method 3)

Is it possible to restore an Exchange database from a backup in a
different Exchange recovery server (with same organization name,
administrative group & Storage group name) in a different Forest? 

Plz give your suggestions... and also let me know if any one of you have
tried this and got succeeded....

Regards, Maha

MCSE: Messaging

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