Mastering: System Center Data Protection Manager 2007

Chapter 7. Protecting Exchange Servers

Now that Exchange has deleted item recovery and deleted mailbox recovery, there's no need for brick backups, in my opinion. Not that there ever was such a need, but now it's even more of a waste of time and tape.

—Ed Crowley, Exchange MVP

If anyone has ever written a messaging system that has provoked as much passion, commentary, loathing, and advocacy as Microsoft Exchange Server in all of its versions, we've yet to see it. Every messaging system has its fans and detractors, of course; pick any messaging system you can think of and you'll find people who can spend hours telling you why it's the best system in the world, right along with the people who will spend the same amount of time explaining in loving detail exactly why this system is evil and yea verily doth stink.

Many people don't understand how much time and energy goes into making sure that their messaging data can be properly backed up and restored. These people usually aren't messaging administrators; they're end users who have never really stopped to think about how ubiquitous email has become in the average modern business day—or for that matter, in our personal lives. Email has long since passed the phase of being merely a convenience and has become a necessity in most shops. It's now considered a utility service, right up there with electricity. We've heard many stories from administrators about network outages where people were perfectly content with losing the ability to browse ...