Danny, you do not perform VMware snapshots of the drives that contain your Exchange databases do you? If so, I'd turn VMware snapshots off for those drives if at all possible. I would perform a standard VMware restore of your Exchange VMs. Then, I'd follow Microsoft's and Tivoli's recommendations for restoring your Exchange data stores. Also, are you backing up the Exchange logs between the incrementals? If not, you might consider it depending on your tolerance for email loss between the time the last incremental occurred and the time Exchange died.
Ray -----Original Message----- From: ADSM: Dist Stor Manager [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Danny Schmanny Sent: Wednesday, January 05, 2011 11:08 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [ADSM-L] DR Plan for Virtual Exchange 2010 Servers Greetings to all: In a nutshell: I need to test DR for Virtual Exchange 2010 servers hosted on VMWare VSphere version 4.0. I have daily VCB backups of the mailbox servers and daily TSM/VSS incremental backups of the actual mailbox databases. Is there any online documentation or DR checklist available to help me get started? Should I be using a better TSM/VSS method of backups to simplify the DR process? Am I in store for a lot of weeping and gnashing of my teeth? Please see the results of 3 tdpexcc commands from one of our mailbox servers below. Any push in the right direction will be greatly appreciated. Thanks. Danny Schmanny C:\Program Files\Tivoli\TSM\TDPExchange>tdpexcc q tsm IBM Tivoli Storage Manager for Mail: Data Protection for Microsoft Exchange Server Version 6, Release 1, Level 2.0 (C) Copyright IBM Corporation 1998, 2010. All rights reserved. ACN5057I The C:\Program Files\Tivoli\TSM\TDPExchange\tdpexc.log log file has been pruned successfully. Tivoli Storage Manager Server Connection Information ---------------------------------------------------- Nodename ............................... EXMBX02_EXCH NetWork Host Name of Server ............ 10.x.x.xx TSM API Version ........................ Version 6, Release 2, Level 1.0 Server Name ............................ STORSERVER Server Type ............................ Windows Server Version ......................... Version 5, Release 5, Level 5.0 Compression Mode ....................... Client Determined Domain Name ............................ EXCH-MAIL-STORE Active Policy Set ...................... STANDARD Default Management Class ............... STANDARD C:\Program Files\Tivoli\TSM\TDPExchange>tdpexcc q tdp IBM Tivoli Storage Manager for Mail: Data Protection for Microsoft Exchange Server Version 6, Release 1, Level 2.0 (C) Copyright IBM Corporation 1998, 2010. All rights reserved. Data Protection for Exchange Preferences ---------------------------------------- BACKUPDESTination................... TSM BACKUPMETHod........................ VSS DATEformat ......................... 1 LANGuage ........................... ENU LOCALDSMAgentnode................... EXMBX02 LOGFile ............................ tdpexc.log LOGPrune ........................... 60 MOUNTWait .......................... Yes NUMberformat ....................... 1 REMOTEDSMAgentnode.................. TEMPDBRestorepath................... TEMPLOGRestorepath.................. TIMEformat ......................... 1 C:\Program Files\Tivoli\TSM\TDPExchange>tdpexcc q exchange IBM Tivoli Storage Manager for Mail: Data Protection for Microsoft Exchange Server Version 6, Release 1, Level 2.0 (C) Copyright IBM Corporation 1998, 2010. All rights reserved. Querying Exchange Server to gather component information, please wait... Microsoft Exchange Server Information ------------------------------------- Server Name: EXMBX02 Domain Name: lgex.internal Exchange Server Version: 14.0.702.1 (Exchange Server 2010) Databases and Status ---------------------------------------- BERKSHIRE_MAILBOX Circular Logging - Disabled DAG Status - None Recovery - False BERKSHIRE_MAILBOX Online CHARDON_MAILBOX Circular Logging - Disabled DAG Status - None Recovery - False CHARDON_MAILBOX Online KENSTON_MAILBOX Circular Logging - Disabled DAG Status - None Recovery - False KENSTON_MAILBOX Online LEDGEMONT_MAILBOX Circular Logging - Disabled DAG Status - None Recovery - False LEDGEMONT_MAILBOX Online MADISON_MAILBOX Circular Logging - Disabled DAG Status - None Recovery - False MADISON_MAILBOX Online Mailbox Database 2039219976 Circular Logging - Disabled DAG Status - None Recovery - False Mailbox Database 2039219976 Online MEDINA_MAILBOX Circular Logging - Disabled DAG Status - None Recovery - False MEDINA_MAILBOX Online NEWBURY_MAILBOX Circular Logging - Disabled DAG Status - None Recovery - False NEWBURY_MAILBOX Online Public_Folder_02 Circular Logging - Disabled DAG Status - None Recovery - False Public_Folder_02 Online RIVERSIDE_MAILBOX Circular Logging - Disabled DAG Status - None Recovery - False RIVERSIDE_MAILBOX Online WICKLIFFECITY_MAILBOX Circular Logging - Disabled DAG Status - None Recovery - False WICKLIFFECITY_MAILBOX Online Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) Information -------------------------------------------- Writer Name : Microsoft Exchange Writer Local DSMAgent Node : EXMBX02 Remote DSMAgent Node : Writer Status : Online Selectable Components : 11 CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email and any attachments are for the exclusive and confidential use of the intended recipient. 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