Right, so you've installed and configured Exchange, and you have email working - but have you backed it up yet? Once I've set up a new Exchange server, or a new server of any kind for that matter, is run a backup!
Email is too essential in the workplace today, to have a hard-drive failure destroy every user's inbox. So in this article, I will be explaning the basic but essential task of running a backup.
To set the scene, I will be using NTBackup to perform this procedure, which ships with Windows Server 2000 and 2003. So the first step, as you may have guessed, is to start NTBackup. To do this, we can either use the Start Menu (It is located in the Accessories->System Tools folder, or we can use the Run prompt. I will be using the run prompt, to do this enter "ntbackup" into the Run prompt and press enter. You will then be presented with the screen below:
We are going to need to switch to Advanced Mode, to do this click the link shown in the image above. You can also prevent the wizard from starting again by unchecking the Always start in wizard mode checkbox.
Next, select the Backup tab - as we are going to be performing a backup! You will see a list of folders that are available for backup and, if all is well, one will be entitled Microsoft Exchange Server.
As you can see, I have expanded Microsoft Exchange Server and then the name of the server I wish to backup - you may have only one, or you may have many. In this case, I am backing up Zeus. Then expand the Microsoft Information Store node, and tick the storage group you wish to backup. The Standard edition of Microsoft Exchange only allows one storage group per server, so this is the only storage group present.
The bottom section of the windows details where the backup will be saved, and what type of backup is to be performed. It is recommended to backup to a tape drive or remote location, here I will simply be backing up to a file on the server's hard drive - although this is not recommended as a hard drive failure could destroy all of the data. Also present here is the backup type. This can be altered using the Options item in the Tools menu. The different backup types will be discussed in a future article.
So all that is left to do now is to click Start Backup. NTBackup saves backups as a .bkf file - which is a compressed file to save disk space.
NTBackup is suitable for small to medium businesses, that do not wish to, or cannot afford to purchase a 3rd Party backup solution. However, for any larger organisations, I recommend that you consider one of these soltions, as they offer much more features, and may make backing up to tape a lot easier!
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