[Resent because my first attempt, with all of the replies, was rejected by the 
List as being longer than 500 lines long.]

Hello Brian,

Sorry -- this is not quite right.  *All* of the logfiles are backed up,
every time (full, copy, incr, or diff).  For full or copy, if Exchange
Server 2000 is SP2 or later, this will include logfiles created after
the backup started.  (Prior Exchange Server versions used "patch" files,
edb*.pat, which were backed up after the logfiles.)

The logfiles are truncated *after* the backup of the database and
logfiles are all finished, and not all of the old logfiles are always
deleted.  Some may still have data that has not been committed to the
database files, even after a full backup.  The streaming backup API
provides us with a list of which logfiles we can delete.

Hope that this helps,
_Scott

-----Original Message-----
From: Narkinsky, Brian [mailto:Brian.Narkinsky AT dep.state.fl DOT us]
Sent: Thursday, August 21, 2003 11:13 AM
To: Scott Bingham; Legato NetWorker discussion
Subject: RE: [Networker] Exchange 2K Backups?


I Josh's case I think he will be OK if he performs a full backup.  I agree 
somebody probably deleted all these #$^^%$ log files as the disk was getting 
full.

The way I see it a full backup doesn't care about missing log files as it 
doesn't back them up.  The only log files that a full backup backs up are those 
created after the full backup begins.  These are denoted in the checkpoint file.

When a backup occurs the data is written to the backup device and a consistency 
check is performed. If this check passes then log files created since the 
backup began are backed up and the log files prior to the full backup beginning 
are simply deleted.  

Now you can't guarantee recovery if you have missing log files since the last 
full backup.  Bottom line is leave the log files alone. 

On a side note never move a bunch of mailboxes while a backup is running.  The 
checkpoint file has a size limit and you will have problems if too many log 
files are created while a online backup is running.  Learned this one the hard 
way.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;812962



Brian Narkinsky
System Manager
Department of Environmental Protection
MS 6520
2600 Blairstone RD
Tallahassee, FL 32399
phone (850)245-8314
fax (850)412-0400
 




-----Original Message-----
From: Scott Bingham [mailto:sbingham AT legato DOT com] 
Sent: Thursday, August 21, 2003 1:30 PM
To: Legato NetWorker discussion; Narkinsky, Brian
Subject: RE: [Networker] Exchange 2K Backups?


Hello all,

Josh:  This might be an indication of a serious problem in the Exchange Server, 
and should be investigated.  A full backup is indeed a good place to start.  If 
it also gives errors, then you should examine the integrity of the Exchange 
database, using Microsoft's tools.

The easiest explanation for this would be that somebody has found a large 
number of *.log files in the system, assumed that they are unimportant, and 
deleted them.  Do make sure that nobody in your organization does this -- 
Exchange Server will not like it.  

Brian:  On a tangent, I beg to differ: a full backup certainly *will* care if 
some of the logfiles are missing.  Some of the information needed for the 
backup might have been inside one of the logfiles.

Thanks,
_Scott

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