Restoring an Exchange Database to a Standby server for DR or Single Mailbox Recovery

This Wiki is brought to you by Backup Central, where you can find the Mr. Backup Blog, Forums, and a mailing list for each forum!
Backup FAQs	Service Providers	Backup Software	Backup Hardware	Backup Book Wiki	Free Stuff	Miscellaneous

The Exchange admins should have a guide on how to do this, other wise I'm positive you can buy the Exchange Admin Guide on Amazon. Also there is some info in the VERITAS Exchnage Extension Guide. Here is a little info I have from a previous life,

        Server Restoration Procedures
        Single Mailbox Restore  - when you need to restore a mailbox because

it was accidentally deleted or a user deleted a message and needs to recover it.

        Note A user can recover any deleted items (mailbox or public folder)

from the server for up to 3 days without any administrator intervention. This new feature in Exchange 5.5 is called the Deleted Item Recovery.

Outlook client has a new feature called Recover Deleted Items, which enables

the user to recover any deleted items. TRW messaging team has agreed to set the maximum days to keep deleted items to 3 days.

        The hot-spare server should already have been configured with

Windows NT and Exchange Server (Org and Site) to receive the restoration of the private information store. If not, Windows NT Server needs to be installed

and configured, the server name must be unique (EXCH99, EXCHC99),

and it must join the EXCHANGE NT domain.

        Install the Exchange Server software and when prompted to "Join an

Existing Site" or "Create a new Site", ensure that you choose the option to "Create a New Site" and name it accordingly, Org:ME and Site:HOME as on the roduction system. The server should also be on the production network for ease of transferring the recovered PST file to the target host. Also, install the Outlook client on this recovery server.

        Note that the server name of the restore machine needs to be unique

for the single mailbox restore procedure. Also note that the dir.edb will not

be restored from tape, only the priv.edb.  In the event that the dir.edb is

restored, no replication will occur since the spare server will have a different server name than the server from which the tape is being restored from. The worse case if this happens is the dir.edb will sense that the server

name and the Exchange server name from the dir.edb is different and the DS

service will not start. Note: As an ultimate precaution to prevent unwanted directory replication, administrators can unhook the cabling linking the restore server to the network until the restore is complete and the mailbox is recovered.

        Restore the Information Store From Tape

1. Restore the private information store to the server. (include the priv.edb, patch files and transaction logs)

2. Select ERASE ALL EXISTING DATA.

3. After the restore, start the DS and IS services and then perform the DS/IS Consistency Adjustment.

        Recover User Mailbox

1. Log onto the recovery server using the Windows NT Administrator ID.

2. Run Microsoft Exchange Administrator program.

3. Select the recipients container and double click on the desired user's

mailbox name.

4. From the GENERAL tab, select the button PRIMARY WINDOWS NT ACCOUNT.

5. From the "Primary Windows NT Account" dialogue box select "SELECT AN EXISTING WINDOWS NT ACCOUNT" and then select OK.

6. From the ADD USER OR GROUP screen select ADMINISTRATOR, select the ADD button and then select OK.

7. Select OK on the User Property screen.

8. Configure a profile for the desired user.

9. Add a Personal folder file to the profile.

10. Run the Microsoft Outlook client on the recovery server.

11. Highlight the "Mailbox - USERNAME" on the left panel.

12. Select the first folder or item in the list on the right panel.

13. From the pulldown menu select EDIT, SELECT ALL.

14. From the pulldown menu select FILE, COPY.

15. In the Copy screen highlight the PERSONAL FOLDER and then select OK.

       All data will be copied to this PST file.

16. Copy the PST file to the destination location. This can be done via

tape backup and restore if necessary.

17. Add this PST to the user's profile on the production server and or send the PST to the end user with instructions. You may need to send this on a tape. If you have network access, you might copy this recovered PST to the desired server.