Exchange backup with VSS

[chad_small]

I was asked about Exchange backups today and after looking at some documentation I remembered that with Exchange 2003 there is a VSS backup option. For the life of me I can't think of anyone who has used it with their Exchange backups. Is there anyone out there who has attempted to use, or is using VSS with their Exchange TDP? I have never trusted it enough to rely on it for my Exchange backups. It has enough problems with the system objects, but since MS has had some time to work out the kinks has anyone been successful with it? Is it worth the hassle? Why would I bother?

 

[chad_small]

Anyone got some input on this?

 

[may]

We do backup exchange via TDP, but we do not buy the copyservice option to do Snapshots via VSS.
sorry
only thinhg I can tell you is that our tdpexch works great,

we already use it twice to migrate our server to new hardware....

 

[chad_small]

We don't use it either but I have never found anyone who does. Just wanted to see if anyone had actually used it.

 

[moon-buddy]

Chad,

I don't think VSS works at all. If it had, TSM should have leveraged it instead of creating TDP for Exchange.

Also, since we are moving to CommVault, an agent for Exchange is also being installed for CommVault backups. I know, no one wants to hear anything other than TSM!!

 

[dhaue]

We've recently built a VSS backup for our pre-production Exchange 2007 environment using EMC CLones on a DMX3 (using TimeFinder Exchange Integration Module, TFEIM). Currently, we're not backing up the clones to TSM, but the integration itself is working (after many attempts at installing and configuring both the VSS and Timefinder pieces).

 

[blackminder]

how can you do individual restore of mail messages (not mailbox) with TDP ?
we use veritas backup exec for exchange backups, because it has more features than TDP.

 

[moon-buddy]

Blackminder,

The answer is: you cannot restore individual mail messages using TDP for Exchange.

I use brick level extracts using MS ExMerge.

 

[mccleld]

Slightly different, but I thought I'd share all the same... I spent some time last year looking at VSS backups for MS SQL Server for a client. Like dhaue above, used EMC disk back end, and the TimeFinder SQL Server Integration Module (TF/SIM) to facilitate the VSS/MSSQL/disk mirror sync and split etc. The project got pulled before I got a chance to do conclusive testing on whether I could reliably take/apply (for example) hourly TDPS transaction log backups against a (for example) daily TF/SIM VSS image taken to a clone, but what I did do it all looked very promising, and a great way to secure quick backups of very large databases without incurring the performance hit on the database host.

David McClelland
London, UK