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PC Knowledge Base -Disaster Recovery for Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server - Backing Up Exchange 2000 Databases

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The mailbox store and public folder store data contained within your Exchange 2000 databases and transaction log files are the most important data to back up in your Exchange 2000 organisation. You can use an Exchange 2000 database backup to restore damaged mailbox or public folder stores to a functioning server running Exchange 2000. You can also use Exchange 2000 database backups to restore your Exchange 2000 databases to an alternate server.
For more information about how to restore Exchange 2000 databases to an alternate server, see Restoring Exchange 2000 Databases to an Alternate Server.

Exchange 2000 uses the Microsoft Information Store options in Backup to back up Exchange 2000 databases and their associated transaction log files. To manage this process, Backup makes API calls to the Exchange 2000 Extensible Storage Engine (ESE). Exchange 2000 informs ESE that it is entering a backup mode, and then, assuming the backup is a Normal backup, a patch file is generated for each database.

If the backup is a Differential or Incremental backup, a patch file is not generated because Differential and Incremental backups only back up transaction logs. When ESE enters a backup mode, a new log file opens. For example, if Edb.log is the current open log file, Edb.log is closed and renamed to the latest generation, and a new Edb.log is opened. After the backup is complete, the new Edb.log file designates the point when the ESE can truncate the logs.

When the backup begins, Backup requests that the database read and sequence the database pages from ESE. The pages are read in numeric sequence in groups of 16, 4-KB pages (though the actual size can vary). As the database engine reads the pages, the ESE verifies them through a checksum to ensure that they are valid.
If they are invalid, the backup stops to prevent the storage of damaged data. After the backup is complete and all the pages are read, the backup copies the logs and patch files to the backup set. The log files are then truncated or deleted at the point when the new generation started. The backup set closes, the ESE enters normal mode, and the backup is complete.

The following figure illustrates the Exchange 2000 backup process.


Exchange 2000 Backup process flow

For information about backup types and rotations to use when backing up Exchange 2000 databases, see Selecting Backup Types and Rotation Schedules.

To back up Exchange 2000 databases

This is an online process making use of the online backup application programming interfaces (APIs). There is also an offline backup procedure.

  1. On any computer in the Windows 2000 domain forest running Exchange 2000,
    1. Click Start, point to Programs,
    2. Point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then
    3. Click Backup.
    For information about how to run or schedule Windows 2000 Backup jobs, see Using the Windows 2000 Backup Utility.
  2. In Backup, click the Backup tab.
  3. On the Backup tab, in the console tree, expand Microsoft Exchange Server, and then expand the server that contains the Exchange 2000 databases that you want to back up.
    Note In the console tree, the Microsoft Exchange option is only used to back up databases on previous versions of Exchange.
  4. To back up the Exchange 2000 databases, perform one of the following procedures:
    • If you want to back up all storage groups on that server, click the box next to Microsoft Information Store (Figure 24).
    • If you want to back up specific storage groups in their entirety, expand Microsoft Information Store, and then click the boxes next to the storage groups you want to back up.
    • If you want to back up specific mailbox stores and public stores in a storage group, expand Microsoft Information Store, click the storage group that contains the databases you want to back up. Then, in the details pane, click the boxes next to the databases you want to back up.

    Selecting the Exchange Information Stores
  5. Next to the Backup media or file name box, click Browse to select the media for your backup. For more information about how to select the media for your backup, see Selecting the Destination for the Backup.
  6. Click Start Backup.
  7. In Backup Job Information, in the Backup description text box, type a backup description, set the appropriate options, and then click Start Backup.
    For more information about how to set the options for the backup, see Selecting Options for the Backup.
  8. After the backup is complete, verify the backup was successful.
    For more information about how to verify the success of a backup job, see Checking the Success of a Completed Backup Job.

The information in this article applies to:



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