Backup, backup, backup. Exchange and VSS backup information

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Obviously, backing up your Exchange server is quite critical.  Unfortunately, there is no magic solution to the process to backing up Exchange.  Here are a couple types of approaches:

1. Simple ntbackup process.  Ntbackup is made to work directly with the Exchange IS and safely backup Exchange storage groups while they are online.  It also backs up the current set of transaction logs.  After completion, the transaction logs are flushed and the backed up tlogs are removed. During the restore, if you have multiple backups, you need to be aware of the "Last Backup Set" and the Exchange recovery process. More info: https://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;232938&Product=exch2003

2. VSS Integrated backup.  With Windows 2003 Server, the Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) was introduced.  This allows hardware vendors to backup data such as databases and open files without possible data corruption.  A number of hardware vendors support this for things like snapshots and BCV's.  This requires Windows 2003, Exchange 2003, supported backend hardware, and a supported backup program.  In Windows 2003, ntbackup uses VSS as well, though it can be disabled if needed.

Getting VSS to work can be difficult due to the 3rd party software integration and the "newness" of the technology.  Working closely with the backup provider is key here.  Generally, the troubleshooting must start from this angle.

Here are some helpful hints:

- Turn on VSS debugging: You must add the following reg keys.
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\VSS\Debug\Tracing]
"TraceFile"="c:\\trace.txt"
"TraceLevel"=dword:ffffffff
"TraceEnterExit"=dword:00000001
"TraceToFile"=dword:00000001
"TraceToDebugger"=dword:00000000
"TraceFileLineInfo"=dword:00000001
"TraceForceFlush"=dword:00000000

- Command line tools:  vssadmin.exe, volperf.exe.

- KB article: https://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;822896&Product=exch2003

Keep in mind that VSS is also used to shared folders.  It is the same underlying technology, however the the Shadow Copies for Shared Folders technology is more related to self service file recovery.  More info here.