Recovering a failed Exchange server

About recovering a failed Exchange server

To recover an Exchange server, you must use NTBackup or a third-party backup and restore application, relying on its documentation for direction. To recover the Exchange databases, you use SnapManager.

This procedure assumes that backups of the Exchange server were made; it also assumes that the most recent backup includes the system state of the Exchange server just before the disaster occurred.

Recovering a failed Exchange 2000 or 2003 server

To recover a failed Exchange 2000 or 2003 server, complete the following steps.

If you are restoring to different hardware, you might need to refer to one of the following Microsoft Knowledge Base articles, as appropriate for your operating system:

For Exchange 2000, KB article 297289
For Exchange 2003, KB article 822945

Steps	Action
1	Ensure that the filer is online and that the volumes containing the LUN files are available across CIFS. For information about creating CIFS shares, see your SnapDrive documentation. For information about general filer administration, see the System Administration Storage Management Guide for your version of Data ONTAP.
2	The server you restore Exchange on does not need to be the same hardware you were running Exchange on before the disaster. However, it must have the same name as the previous Exchange server, and it must have sufficient capacity.
	If...	Then...
	You are restoring your Exchange server back to the same hardware	Proceed to Step 3.
	You are restoring your Exchange server to a brand new server	Name the new server using the same name as the original Exchange server and proceed to Step 3. Note If you are restoring from tape, your new hardware configuration must match the old hardware configuration exactly, including interface cards and firmware versions.
	You are restoring your Exchange server to a different, preexisting server	Reset the machine account in the domain and name the server, using the same name as the original Exchange server, and proceed to Step 4. For more information about performing this step, see the appropriate Microsoft KB article, as listed before this procedure. Caution Do not install Exchange at this time. Use the KB article only to rename the server. Make sure that you perform the account reset, as specified in the KB article, rather than deleting the account and re-creating it.
3	Perform a full restore of the Exchange server, without the Exchange databases, using the backup application you used to create the backup. See the documentation for your backup software and the Disaster Recovery for Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server document.
4	If...	Then...
	Your backup software backed up the SnapDrive software	Proceed to Step 5.
	Your backup software was not configured to back up the SnapDrive software	Reinstall the same version of SnapDrive used before the disaster occurred. For information about installing SnapDrive, see your SnapDrive documentation.
5	If your Exchange server is running Windows 2003 and...	Then...
	Your backup software backed up NetApp VSS Hardware Provider	Proceed to Step 6.
	Your backup software was not configured to back up NetApp VSS Hardware Provider	Reinstall the same version of NetApp VSS Hardware Provider used before the disaster occurred. For information about installing NetApp VSS Hardware Provider, see the NetApp VSS Hardware Provider Installation and Administration Guide.
6	Using SnapDrive, connect the LUNs, or ensure that they are connected, and that you are using the same drive letters used before the disaster.
7	If...	Then...
	Your backup software backed up the Exchange Server software	Proceed to Step 8.
	Your backup software was not configured to back up the Exchange Server software	Install Exchange and any required Exchange service packs in disaster recovery mode. For details, see Disaster Recovery for Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server and the appropriate KB article, as listed before this procedure. Note Do not mount any storage groups yet.


8	If...	Then...
	Your backup software backed up the SnapManager software	Proceed to Step 9.
	Your backup software was not configured to back up the SnapManager software	Reinstall the same version of SnapManager used before the disaster and run the Configuration Wizard to ensure that your configuration matches exactly the configuration used before the disaster. Note Because you are reconstructing your original configuration, no data is moved by the Configuration Wizard. However, running the Configuration Wizard is necessary for SnapManager to function correctly.
9	Restore the most recent backup using SnapManager Restore. For more information about using SnapManager Restore, see Restoring Databases with SnapManager Restore.
10	Launch the Outlook client and verify that your data was properly restored and that the Exchange server is operating correctly.
11	Perform a SnapManager backup and verification to verify that your restored database is free of physical-level corruption.

Recovering a failed Exchange 5.5 server

To recover a failed Exchange 5.5 server, complete the following steps.

Steps	Action
1	Ensure that the filer is online and that the volumes containing the LUN files are available across CIFS. For information about creating CIFS shares, see your SnapDrive documentation. For information about general filer administration, see the System Administration Storage Management Guide for your version of Data ONTAP.
2	The server you restore Exchange on does not need to be the same hardware you were running Exchange on before the disaster. However, it must have the same name as the previous Exchange server, and it must have sufficient capacity.
	If...	Then...
	You are restoring your Exchange server back to the same hardware	Proceed to Step 3.
	You are restoring your Exchange server to a brand new server	Reset the machine account in the domain and name the new server using the same name as the original Exchange server. Proceed to Step 3. Note If you are restoring from tape, your new hardware configuration must match the old hardware configuration exactly.
	You are restoring your Exchange server to a different, preexisting server	Reset the machine account in the domain and rename the server, using the same name as the original Exchange server. Proceed to Step 3.
3	Perform a full restore of the Exchange server, without the Exchange data, using the backup application you used to create the backup. See the documentation for your backup software and the Microsoft Exchange 5.5 Disaster Recovery document.
4	If...	Then...
	Your backup software backed up the SnapDrive software	Proceed to Step 5.
	Your backup software was not configured to back up the SnapDrive software	Reinstall the same version of SnapDrive used before the disaster occurred. For information about installing SnapDrive, see your SnapDrive documentation.
5	Using SnapDrive, connect the LUNs, or ensure that they are connected, and that you are using the same drive letters used before the disaster.
6	If...	Then...
	Your backup software backed up the Exchange server	Proceed to Step 7.
	Your backup software was not configured to back up the Exchange server	Reinstall Exchange and any required service packs. Use the same site and organization names as your original Exchange installation. Note Do not start the Information Store service yet.
7	If...	Then...
	Your backup software backed up the SnapManager software	Proceed to Step 8.
	Your backup software was not configured to back up the SnapManager software	Reinstall the same version of SnapManager used before the disaster and run the Configuration Wizard to ensure that your configuration matches exactly the configuration used before the disaster. Note Because you are reconstructing your original configuration, no data is moved by the Configuration Wizard. However, running the Configuration Wizard is necessary for SnapManager to function correctly.
8	Restore the most recent backup using SnapManager Restore. For more information about using SnapManager Restore, see Restoring Databases with SnapManager Restore.
9	Launch the Outlook client and verify that your data was properly restored and that the Exchange server is operating correctly.
10	Perform a SnapManager backup and verification to verify that your restored database is free of physical-level corruption.