Friday, November 9, 2012

How To Make A Microsoft Exchange Backup Strategy

Online Backup Microsoft, Microsoft has dominated the corporate messaging market for Online Backup Microsoft several years now. The software in the forefront of that dominance is Microsoft Exchange Server. Microsoft Exchange Server is a server-based software product that provides collaborative features, email, calendaring and task creation and monitoring. Companies use MS Exchange together with other Microsoft products like the Windows operating systems and the Outlook personal information manager.

Most companies use MS Exchange as the backbone of their company\'s communications infrastructure. This software handles all their email processing, appointments, and collaboration tools. It also stores all their important and confidential communications data. Some companies even invest in redundant systems so that if their Exchange server goes down, a new server will automatically take over so that no business processes will be interrupted. These are expensive solutions that companies invest to make sure that core business operations do not get affected by technical problems.

In any computer automation solution, a backup plan for the system is always mandatory. Backups make it possible to Online Backup Microsoft completely restore all software and data in cases of power outages, equipment failure or natural disasters such as flooding, fire or earthquake. Multiple backups are often made and stored in different locations especially off-site. Any company using MS Exchange must have an Exchange backup strategy.

There is no need to buy third party backup software because Microsoft includes the Windows Server Backup software with its server software. Microsoft Exchange 2003, 2007 and 2010 can be backed up using the Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) method. The VSS method creates a snapshot of the Exchange database and logs and a copy is created that can be backed up even if the Exchange server is still being used.

The following guidelines can be used as a foundation for an Exchange backup strategy.

1. Select The Backup Software To Be Used

There are many backup software to choose from. The decision will depend on the features you will be looking for in a backup software.

2. Choose The Type of Backup to be Used

There are two different types of backups that can be used on MS Exchange. It could be a full system backup or an incremental backup. A full system backup backs up all files of Exchange including the operating system files. This type of backup takes a long time and must be properly scheduled. An incremental backup backs up only changes that happened from a certain period of time. This backup is faster and can be done daily.

3. Decide What Type Of Storage Media To Store the Backup Data

The cheapest backup media is tape. However, depending on the overall strategy, an alternate type of media can be used. Alternative storage areas are disk arrays, tape libraries and optical jukeboxes.

4. Plan Where to Store The Backup Media

One backup must be stored locally so that restoration can easily be made. Other backups must be stored remotely so that the backup will be safe in case of natural disasters.

5. Prepare A Labeling System For The Media

A labeling system is needed to properly document backups. The labels will be used to determine the type of backup used, when the backup was made and what data was backed up. The labeling system will also be used in retrieving selected data or in restoring all of the data.

6. Prepare The Backup Schedule

The backup schedule will be the dates and times that backups will have to be made. Ideally, this should be the time when no Online Backup Microsoft one is using the system. For businesses that operate nonstop, the ideal time will be when there are the least number of users in the system.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7128810