Hi, Patrick, on Sonntag, 30. Mai 2004 at 16:09 you wrote to amanda-users:
PJL> You do not need to stop Exchange. .... First: Thank you for all your suggestions, I will have a close look at all these tips ASAP. PJL> The "Deleted Item Recovery" mitigates the problem somewhat. It works PJL> by having the server not actually delete anything until a few weeks PJL> after the user empties the trash. See PJL> <http://support.microsoft.com/?id=228934>. (Assuming people actually PJL> use the trash; see <http://support.microsoft.com/?id=178630>.) I have to look at the habits of the clients users ... PJL> Also, you do not always have to dump one big dumpfile. Windows Backup PJL> supports incremental backups, which dump everything that changed since PJL> the previous dump. This works with Exchange because the server uses a PJL> database for everything, and the incremental backups dump just the PJL> transaction logs and not the entire database. AFAIK they have tried to follow the rule "the best backup is a full backup" until now. PJL> So, here is what I did. PJL> First, I set aside a nice big partition to hold the dump files. PJL> Next, I configured Windows Backup to do a full backup every Saturday PJL> evening and an incremental backup each other night of the week. This PJL> requires going through the GUI wizard seven times, in order to PJL> configure the distinct file names and weekday for each backup. Just to get that clear: this tool does the dumps to disk ... PJL> (Aside: You might be able to use the command-line ntbackup to write PJL> your own automation scripts; see PJL> <http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/WindowsServ/2003/standard/proddocs/en-us/ntbackup_command.asp>. PJL> But I figured if I ever wanted to hand this off to a "certified PJL> Exchange(R) Administrator(TM)", I should use Microsoft's built-in GUI PJL> tools as much as possible.) ;-) PJL> Finally, I used Amanda's SMB support to back up the dump files. The PJL> only problem is that my main database file is now bigger than 2G... PJL> Which reminds me, I really ought to do something about that. Like get PJL> rid of Exchange. PJL> If you keep Exchange, I strongly recommend running the Microsoft PJL> Baseline Security Analyzer PJL> (http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/tools/mbsahome.mspx) PJL> frequently to keep up-to-date with security patches. Be careful about PJL> the MBSA's other suggestions, though, since some of the changes it PJL> recommends to lock down IIS (like, say, running the "IIS lockdown PJL> tool") will break Outlook Web Access. Ask me how I know. How do you know? PJL> I am pretty sure Outlook 2002 and 2003 have better IMAP support than PJL> their predecessors, for what it is worth. PJL> Good luck! Thanks a lot ! PJL> - Pat PJL> http://unattended.sourceforge.net/ PJL> P.S. Oh look, I found my Exchange notes. Below is the section I PJL> wrote on backups. Let me know if you are interested in the rest of my PJL> notes. PJL> Backups PJL> ======= PJL> Read <http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=258243>. PJL> Configure backups. Do "mkdir e:\backup", which is where we will keep PJL> our backup dumps. PJL> Share the e:\backup folder as a share named "backup". Go to Start ->> Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools -> Backup. PJL> Select "Schedule Jobs" then click "Add Job". In the Wizard, choose to PJL> backup selected items. Expand "Microsoft Exchange Server -> PJL> DARKSEID", and check "Microsoft Information Store". For the Backup PJL> File name, use E:\backup\xchgfull.bkf. Select "Normal" for type of PJL> backup operation. Do not bother to verify backup (because it is going PJL> to disk). Choose to "Replace" (not append) the data on the media with PJL> the backup. Use "Exchange full dump" for the label. Schedule the job PJL> to run every Saturday at 8 P.M. PJL> Repeat the process, but use E:\backup\xchgsun.bkf for the file name, PJL> "Incremental" for the type, and "Sunday incremental" for the label. PJL> Schedule the job to run every Sunday at 8 P.M. PJL> Repeat for Monday through Friday incrementals. ... thx again ... -- best regards, Stefan Stefan G. Weichinger mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]