Creating a Microsoft Exchange Server Backup Job

Backing up Microsoft Exchange Server is essential for ensuring the availability and integrity of email communications within an organization. Catalogic DPX offers a streamlined approach to backing up Exchange Server, leveraging its application-aware capabilities to facilitate the process.

Web interface

1. In the main web interface view, go to Job Manager in the sidebar. Then select the New Backup Job button in the upper right corner.

1. Specify the Job Name (this field may contain up to 16 characters). Add an optional, brief description (this field may contain up to 48 characters).

1. Select Job Type – Block and the Job Folder to store the job in. By default, all jobs are stored in the SS_DEFAULT folder.

2. Click Add Source in the SOURCES pane to specify which volumes you want to back up. DPX detects Exchange Server installations through registry settings and the VSS (Volume Shadow Copy Service) framework. You will see a separate virtual object for the Exchange Server, indicating that DPX can perform application-consistent backups. Select your Exchange Server and click Select.

Tip. DPX supports backing up Exchange Server databases in both Active/Active and Active/Passive cluster configurations. This is particularly important for environments utilizing Database Availability Groups (DAGs) or IP-less DAG configurations, ensuring continuous protection for your data.

Attention! When backing up an Exchange object with DPX, all local volumes referenced by the object will also be included in the backup. This may result in a larger backup size than initially anticipated.

Tip. You may view your current selection at any moment, using the Selected Items button next to the search field.

1. Click Set Destination in the DESTINATION pane to choose the destination for the backup.

1. You can also add a schedule in the SCHEDULES pane for the backup to be run regularly.

See also. For more details on scheduling options, see Scheduling a Block Backup Job.

1. If you want to add an Archive to your backup job, click Add Archive in the ARCHIVE pane.

Destination

Select the Archive destination.

See also. For more details on archiving options, see Devices and Media.

Options

Mark Original Offsite

Determines whether a backup tape is stored offsite. DPX adds the Offsite status to the tape.

Toggle on	Indicates in the Catalog that the tape is stored offsite.
Toggle off	Indicates in the Catalog that the tape is stored onsite.

Append Offsite

Determines if a backup tape with status Offsite can be appended.

Toggle on	Tapes in the library with status Offsite can be appended to. The Append Offsite field in the Edit Media Pool dialog must also be set to Yes.
Toggle off	Tapes in the library with status Offsite cannot be appended to.

The Offsite status of a tape can be viewed through the Operate Tape Library function, the Configure Media function, or in the media volume report. Note that when you use the Operate Tape Library function to import a tape with status Offsite, the Offsite status is cleared and the tape becomes available for use.

Max Devices (Devices)

Limits the number of storage devices valid for use with this job. Use this option if you want to stop DPX from using all the drives in the selected device cluster so that some drives will be available for other purposes.

The Alternate Secondary toggle

This is an alternate location where backup data resides. This alternate location could be a replica of the original data using NetApp SnapMirror, copied through Data ONTAP commands, or restored from a tape backup. Data can be restored from an alternate secondary data source directly from the management console.

If the toggle is on, two additional drop-down selection fields are shown, requiring to specify the Alternate Secondary Node and Volume.

Schedule

Add schedules for Base, Incremental, and Differential Archive backups according to your requirements.

Click Add to save the current schedule.

Multiple schedules may be added using the Add Another Schedule button which will be displayed upon adding the first schedule.

1. Specify Advanced Options. There are 2 Exchange Server-specific options:

Microsoft Exchange Truncate

This option controls the truncation of Microsoft Exchange Logs during a Block backup.

Toggle on	Default option. After the backup is complete, DPX deletes the old Exchange logs.
Toggle off	DPX does not delete any Exchange logs.

Attention! If you want to perform Point-in-Time restore, make sure to disable this option.

Microsoft Exchange Protect via Passive Node

This option is designed for use in environments where Exchange is deployed in a high-availability configuration, such as a Database Availability Group (DAG). In a DAG setup, there are multiple copies of the Exchange databases across different servers or nodes, which can be active (serving client requests) or passive (standby copies). Enabling this option reduces the resource load and potential performance impact on the active server, which is handling client requests.

See also. To learn more about other available options, see Job Options for Block Backup.

1. Click Save.

2. Enter the retention period and choose whether to run the job immediately. Your job will be now available in the Job Manager section.

Desktop interface

1. Go to the Backup tab.

2. From the Backup Modes section in the side panel, choose Block.

3. In the Job Tasks section of the task panel, find and click Block Backup Wizard.

1. The Block Backup Wizard window will appear:

1. By default, the creator allows you to select from the drop-down list and edit an already existing job. If you want to create a new block backup job, click the New Job button in the lower right corner.

2. In the Select Source screen, choose the Exchange databases you want to include in the backup. Click Next.

1. In the Select Destination screen, choose the destination for the backup job. Click Next.

1. In the Job Options screen, define the job options for the backup job. There are 2 Exchange-specific options available in the Application tab:

Microsoft Exchange Truncate

This option controls the truncation of Microsoft Exchange Logs during a Block backup.

Yes	Default option. After the backup is complete, DPX deletes the old Exchange logs.
No	DPX does not delete any Exchange logs.

Attention! If you want to perform a Point-in-Time restore, make sure to disable this option.

Microsoft Exchange Protect via Passive Node

This option is designed for use in environments where Exchange is deployed in a high-availability configuration, such as a Database Availability Group (DAG). In a DAG setup, there are multiple copies of the Exchange databases across different servers or nodes, which can be active (serving client requests) or passive (standby copies). Enabling this option reduces the resource load and potential performance impact on the active server, which is handling client requests.

See also. For more information about block backup job options, see Job Options for Block Backup.

1. In the final Save screen, you must enter the Job Name (max. 16 characters) and specify the Job Folder to store the job in (the default folder is SS_DEFAULT). You may also add a comment to the job definition or set up a schedule (See Scheduling a Block Backup Job).

1. Click Finish. The Final Job Run Settings dialog box will appear. You may choose to run the job immediately or save it without running. You may also change the retention period (default: 90 days).

Note. If you select Cancel, the job will be saved anyway, it will not be run and the retention period will remain 90 days.