Exchange Backups - Stuck in a hole and not sure if there is a way out

[Zoatibix]

So, we've kind of inherited a bit of a problem.

 

Long story short we need to get a back-up of our poorly Exchange server before we try to fix it (or simply build a new one and move the accounts to it).

 

We're running Exchange Server 2010 on Windows Server 2008 R2

 

We have two backend servers replicating the Dag...unfortunately one of those is now showing a 'health check failure'. This means that we can't export or import using the Exchange built-in tools. We have a third, front-end server which is fine.

 

Our goal is to build a brand new set of boxes to host this. Partly due to the above failure and partly due to our need to move an old domain into an existing domain. (We're part of a merger of a couple of colleges.)

 

 

I have MS Data Protection Management client installed on the database server. It reports that it has successfully created a restore point but looking at the individual accounts there is a '-' in the data size. We're doing a restore now to another server with the DPM client.

 

Bit of an ask but I don't really know what else we might need to back up to successfully import accounts to another server (in a trusted domain) or whether or not that data size indicates and empty data set (which is odd as the account we are using (an ex-member of staff who had a lot of emails, seemed like a good test subject)...although the Data Transferred total is currently at 78GB and rising! :0)

 

Our upper management have agreed to call in some specialists but I think their first question (understandably!) is going to be whether we have a good back up or not. Or is that something that in this situation we should be relying on them to do?

 

Apologies for the litany of questions/rambling.

 

Thanks for any helpful replies in advance :0)

[andydis]

backups are only good if they are restored and tested, sounds like yoour going to need some downtime and wait for the restore to happen.

 

Our goal is to build a brand new set of boxes to host this.

It would be worth flagging this up with whomever is project managing the college merger, are you responsible for the ICT as a whole ?

[Zoatibix]

Hi,

 

Yes we're crossing our fingers for the testing we're trying now.

 

I'm just a lowly network techie. We have a 'new' Exchange box running so we have something to put the data into. It's just backing it up and then trying to export it that's the problem.

 

Thanks for your reply.