MCITP: Microsoft® Exchange Server 2007 Messaging Design and Deployment: Study Guide

Chapter 10. Planning a Backup and Recovery Solution for Exchange Server 2007

Planning Backup and Recovery

I was once told that backups are not important and that the only important thing was recovery. Although the statement may be considered absurd it highlights the idea that if you cannot restore there is no sense in doing backups. It is essential to completely understand the backup and recovery process to be a successful Exchange professional. In this chapter we will cover the variety of backup options for both Mailbox and non-Mailbox servers as well as methods to recover from each of them.

When determining what type of backups meet your restore needs, it's important to first know what your business requirements are. Once the needs have been documented it will be much easier to determine what backup solution to use and it will be much easier to justify the cost of the solution to the business.

To determine your needs it's good to start with a list of questions:

• How long can it take to restore each group of users and still meet the Service Level Agreements?

• How long can it take before service is restored?

• What services are essential to restore, and in what order?

• How long can it take before all email is restored?

• What is the maximum amount of data that can be lost?

• How long can backups take to complete without affecting end user and other processes?

• What budget has been allocated for backup ...