Uncovering Simplified and Rapid Exchange Recovery

“Exchange crashed with 1 lakh log files of 1MB each with an EDB file size of around 140 GB.”
(A real time exchange recovery scenario solved using StoreGrid)

What could be more nightmarish than facing an Exchange Server crash with 240 GB of critical data?

Restoring data of such high volume over a network can be a real ordeal, taking the process days to complete. Most SMB’s and IT Admins face a situation where the volume of data stored in critical databases continues to grow exponentially while the recovery window for unplanned downtime continues to shrink. Administrators and IT Providers recognize that business cannot withstand recoveries that take weeks and rather they need to be back in business within hours without breaking either the bank or the backs.

This is a continuation of our previous Exchange blog and so let’s see how StoreGrid steps in to provide a fast, simple and a reliable restoration of critical Exchange data in a few easy steps.The intuitive interface ensures that the Exchange Server is up and running with your data with a few easy clicks.

Before you proceed to restore, here’s a quick overview of the essentials that you need to have:

•  StoreGrid Client Agent installed in the Exchange Server machine and Exchange data backed up to the Server (with StoreGrid Backup Server Agent installed in another machine).
• A removable external disk (depending on the size of the data you will be restoring) connected to the backup server in case your backup server is located offsite.
• In case you are restoring only your corrupted database, then you need to follow a few necessary steps before you attempt the restore process.
• The Exchange Server must be running.
• The database to be restored must be dismounted.
• Copies of the current *.edb, *.stm, *.log and other related files from the db storage location from the original location  should be moved to a separate safe location, so that existing data is not overwritten by the restored data.

Step 1 : Do a Server side restore

a) Perform a server side restore of the Exchange backup.  You can restore from backup server locally to an attached external hard disk or any removable drive (if the server is located offsite) or to any local location(if the server is located onsite) through the menu “Reseller Management->Reseller Name->Customer Name->Client Name->List of Backups->Actions->Proceed to Restore Backup”

Step 2: Attach the restored data to the client machine

a) Move the locally restored Exchange data at the server site  physically and attach the restored data to the client machine if the client and server are placed in different locations. You could also copy the restored data into the client machine if the client and server are placed on the same network..

Step 3 : Restore the data in the client

a) In the above restore page, in “Step 0”, select the second option “I have previously restored data from my backup server to a local folder. I now want to use this data to restore the Exchange Server database.”.

b) In the opened new page, enter the local restore location