Exchange 2003 Disaster Recovery with NtBackup

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* 2006.03 Exchange 2003 DR with NtBackup step by step demo (PowerPoint format) download (17M)

This was done on a single server with AD, DNS and Exchange 2003 installed

================ Demo 1: Backup best practices
- Important: System State backup first, then "First Storage Group"data (separately)
- IIS, local computer, "Backup/Restore config" --> system32\inetsrv\MetaBack folder
- First Storage Group, deselect "circular logging"
- Mailbox store, Limits tab, Deletion settings, "Keep deleted items" from 7 to 30, "Keep deleted mailboxes" unchanged,
  and select "Do not permanently delete mailboxes and items until the store has been backed up"

================ Demo 2
2a. Recover a mistakenly deleted mailbox
+ Mailboxes, Run Clean Up Agent
+ Mailbox Recovery Center, Add Mailbox Store, select the deleted mailbox, Find Match, Reconnect

Note: if mailbox is deleted & purged --> unavailable in "Mailbox Recovery Center" & "Recovery Storage Group" cannot connect to
 the original DB --> alternate server is needed to restore

2b. Recover mistakenly deleted email messages
+ Create Recovery Storage Group
+ Recovery Storage Group/ Add database to Recover/This DB can be overwritten by a restore
+ Restore Exchange mailbox data using ntbackup, enter temp folder, and check "Last Restore Set", Mount, Refresh
+ Select the mailbox, Recover Mailbox Data option, Merge, Outlook will auto sync

============== Demo 3: Recovering a corrupted Mailbox Store (using DIAL TONE databases)
+ in First Storage Group, dismount Mailbox store
+ rename priv1.edb & stm to Corrupted.edb & stm
+ remount Mailbox store, a new & empty priv1.edb & stm (dial tone databases) will be created and linked with "Recovery Storage Group"
+ in Outlook, old messages can still be seen (due to Cached mode)
+ close and reopen Outlook, "Recovery Mode" message appears, Outlook is now empty, send a new message
+ Recovery Storage Group, dismount Mailbox store, set "overwritten" flag
+ use NtBackup to restore. Note that with "Recovery Storage Group", only Mailbox store can be recovered, not the Storage Group

3a. Option 1: use "Recover Mailbox Data" or EXMERGE (will take hours with large DBs)

3b. Option 2: Swap databases (to move small dial tone data to the recovered DBs)
+ dismount Mailbox store in both "First Storage Group" and "Recovery Storage Group"
+ use "Windows Explorer" to swap edb & stm files between "MDBDATA" & "Recovery Storage Group" folders, Remount
+ Outlook will auto display message asking to restart Outlook, old messages reappear, new (dial tone) message cannot be seen
+ continue with Option 1, and use EXMERGE for merge dial tone message on all mailboxes

============= Demo 4: Replacing an Exchange server
+ Basic installation of Windows with same version, edition, patch level on same volume & path & identical hardware
+ Restore System State (AD database will also be restored, if Exchange shares same server with DC,
  but SHORTCUTS to AD tools not restored)
+ restart, System Log will display some errors relating to Exchange services
+ run dsa.msc to open "AD Users & Computers", all users (without Mailbox properties) will be shown
+ Exchange setup /DisasterRecovery switch
+ NtBackup to restore Mailbox data

============= Demo 5: Alternate server recovery
+ Relatively identical hardware, different AD forest, AD+DNS+Exchange can be on a single server
+ Same settings required: Org, Admin group, Storage group, DB name, LegacyExchangeDN (AD setting)
+ Alternate server: ldifde -f recovery.ldf, open, search legacyExchangeDN text (should be the same as existing server)
++ do not create & use "Recovery Storage Group"
++ dismount Mailbox store, set "overwritten" flag
++ use Ntbackup to restore mailbox & log data (NOTE: AD info not selected), remount store
++ ADUC, no users are shown
++ Mailbox store, refresh. Mailboxes will be shown (but still orphan, because no associated AD users), "Run Cleanup Agent"
++ "Maibox Recovery Center", add "Mailbox Store", select mailbox, "Find Match" --> no result, Export, deselect "userAccountControl",
  user will be shown in ADUC, "Find Match" again successfully, Reconnect
++ use EXMERGE (make sure the running account have Domain Admin, Send As & RunAs permission),
  Extract/Import option, step 1 (Extract) to export data of that user to a PST file,
  copy that PST back to the production server, and use EXMERGE again to import

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