Backup Microsoft Exchange

[Julian Pace Ross]

This should be simple:
Use ntbackup to create a large .bkf file at a scheduled time.
This will itself use shadow copy, so for this purpose (exchange) you really 
don't need to get into the VSS SDK.

Moreover, I compress and encrypt that file with rsyncrypto (internally pipes 
to gzip with the --rsyncable argument).
I end up with a file of around 8GB... (see http://rsyncrypto.lingnu.com)

This file takes around 45 mins to sync, but obviously it depends on the 
amount and types of changes you get between backups.

--------------------------------------------------
From: "Brad Farrell" <brad.farrell at shaw.ca>
Sent: Tuesday, October 07, 2008 1:55 AM
To: "'Rob Bosch'" <robbosch at msn.com>; <szemlicka at computerheroes.com>
Cc: <rsync at lists.samba.org>
Subject: RE: Backup Microsoft Exchange

> I do the NT backup of the exchange to a .bkf file, then rsync that file. 
> My
> largest was about 12GB and it took about 1 hour and transferred about 
> 300MB
> of data across the net.  I had to use rsync 3.x to make this work, though.
>
> Brad
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: rsync-bounces+brad.farrell=shaw.ca at lists.samba.org
> [mailto:rsync-bounces+brad.farrell=shaw.ca at lists.samba.org] On Behalf Of 
> Rob
> Bosch
> Sent: Monday, October 06, 2008 11:52 AM
> To: szemlicka at computerheroes.com
> Cc: rsync at lists.samba.org
> Subject: RE: Backup Microsoft Exchange
>
> You need to use shadow copies to create a drive you can use with rsync, or
> you have to take Exchange offline.  You can use vshadow.exe (use version
> 3.0) to create the shadow copy and then expose it as a drive.  Then use
> rsync to sync this point-in-time backup to your offsite location across an
> ssh tunnel.  vshadow with the -w option means it will tell the Exchange
> writer to create a consistent backup so you won't have problems with
> recovery.
>
> There is plenty of documentation on how to use vshadow to expose a shadow
> copy as a drive.  When using rsync to send it offsite be sure to use 
> the -I
> option since the date/time option of the exchange edb file will not
> necessarily change.
>
> You can also use betest (VSS SDK) to truncate logs periodically and use 
> the
> -I option only when you truncate the logs.  The rest of the time you will
> get the logs and you can do a soft recovery against your edb in the event 
> of
> a disaster.  If you truncate logs or use circular logging you have to 
> use -I
> to force a sync even if the date/time has not changed.
>
> Rob
>
> -- 
> Please use reply-all for most replies to avoid omitting the mailing list.
> To unsubscribe or change options:
> https://lists.samba.org/mailman/listinfo/rsync
> Before posting, read: http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
>
> -- 
> Please use reply-all for most replies to avoid omitting the mailing list.
> To unsubscribe or change options: 
> https://lists.samba.org/mailman/listinfo/rsync
> Before posting, read: http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html