{"id":3393,"date":"2014-07-01T15:00:15","date_gmt":"2014-07-01T15:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.backupassist.com\/blog\/?p=3393"},"modified":"2019-11-20T04:04:39","modified_gmt":"2019-11-20T04:04:39","slug":"exchange-backup-software-doing-its-job-dont-risk-important-emails","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.backupassist.com\/blog\/exchange-backup-software-doing-its-job-dont-risk-important-emails","title":{"rendered":"Exchange backup software doing its job? Don\u2019t risk important emails"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Exchange<\/a><\/h2>\n

Unless your business is planning on returning to carrier pigeons or the postal service (it\u2019s debatable which would be less efficient), chances are your business has an Exchange Server.\u00a0 Protecting its data with effective Exchange backup software<\/a> should be a top priority, because it\u2019s not just lost emails that you have to worry about.\u00a0 When a mail database gets corrupted it\u2019s everyone\u2019s problem \u2013 that\u2019s one restore you really don\u2019t want to fail.<\/p>\n

You need to be certain your Exchange backup software is doing its job, because if you lose this data it\u2019s your business that\u2019s going to suffer.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a lot more at stake here than just losing those chain emails you keep getting spammed with.\u00a0 You\u2019ll lose more than cat memes and self-help articles.\u00a0 And yes, you\u2019ll finally have your inbox cleared of all those reminders that LinkedIn wants your money, but it comes at the cost of the leads, contacts and client communications that are vital to your business.\u00a0 That\u2019s a heavy price to pay to finally stop reading \u201cGet a free month of LinkedIn Premium.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s not even worth being shot of Grumpy Cat.<\/p>\n

In this article, we\u2019re going to dive into why your Exchange backup software<\/a> needs to be in tip-top shape \u2013 and how to make sure it is.<\/p>\n

What if you lost your databases? 2 worrying hypotheticals<\/span><\/h2>\n

\"Exchange<\/p>\n

Lisa is the Systems Admin for The Firebugs\u2019 Online Warehouse (FOW) \u2013 an\u00a0eCommerce\u00a0business where pyromaniac customers fulfill all their fire starting needs via email order.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

Lisa is pedantic with her backups.\u00a0 She backs up diligently and has a solid offsite backup plan in action.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

The worst happens: a bulk-order of Thermite ignites and the entire FOW head office is burned to the ground \u2013 Exchange Servers and all.\u00a0 Lisa starts to question the sanity of what her company actually stocks, but as far as the Exchange Servers go she isn\u2019t too concerned.\u00a0 She starts working to get the offsite backups brought in and her systems back up and running.\u00a0 Smooth sailing.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

Then the company\u2019s CEO asks her for a couple of specific emails from a few months back.\u00a0 These emails are vital to the business and a major client will be lost if they aren\u2019t recovered immediately. <\/em><\/p>\n

Lisa doesn\u2019t think it will be a problem; after all, she\u2019s backed up everything.\u00a0 Then she realizes \u2013 there are over 10 years of emails backed up and the Exchange backup software she\u2019s been using doesn\u2019t have a Granular Restore function. It\u2019s going to take days at the minimum and the client will be lost.\u00a0 Come to think of it, her job might be lost as well.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

When your Exchange server (or any IT infrastructure, for that matter) takes a hit, the number one thing your business wants to avoid is downtime. \u00a0Downtime is costly and the more of it you have the worse off your company will be. \u00a0Having Exchange backup software that addresses all of your needs and works to get your company back to normal operation as quickly as possible is vital.<\/p>\n

In the silly example above, what Lisa needed was an Exchange Granular Restore function, but she hadn\u2019t considered it ahead of time so her software didn\u2019t have it.<\/p>\n

Beyond specific functions, the moral of the story here is that you need to be sure your Exchange backup software will be able to provide the services your business needs.\u00a0 If your Exchange backup software isn\u2019t pulling its full weight, it\u2019s going to equal downtime for your business when it can least afford it.<\/p>\n

As fictional Lisa learned, a fantastic backup strategy isn\u2019t enough if your software simply isn\u2019t up to scratch.<\/p>\n

Even worse\u2026<\/h3>\n

\"Exchange<\/p>\n

Picture a successful b2b company called Judge, Jury & Confectionutioner (JJC).\u00a0 They sell candy in bulk to top-tier law firms.\u00a0 Everyone knows lawyers have seriously sweet teeth, so it\u2019s a crowded marketplace with fierce competition.\u00a0 Email lead generation and contact lists are vital to the business\u2019s survival.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

An employee, Sam, recently messed up a multimillion dollar deal that could have seen JJC sell 1.2 tons of Gummy Bears to Johnson, Heckle & Jeckle \u2013 a major client.\u00a0 So naturally, Sam got the boot.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

On his last day, rather than shake a few hands and leave with dignity, Sam decided to burn his bridges with napalm.\u00a0 He was tech-savvy and fully aware of the importance of email to the business, so he went into the Exchange Server and deleted a year\u2019s worth of client communications, contacts and business leads.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

Now here\u2019s the problem: JJC management hates spending money on anything that won\u2019t send a lawyer to the dentist.\u00a0 About a year ago, JJC migrated its Exchange to a dedicated server, but hadn\u2019t got around to setting up a backup software license for the new hardware. So in spite of a year\u2019s worth of warnings and complaints from their IT department, LLC didn\u2019t have Exchange backup software.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Now, we\u2019re sure your business wouldn\u2019t get itself into this mess in the first place. You probably do your best to make sure you don\u2019t hire unbalanced staff.\u00a0 You almost certainly make sure that only trusted personnel can get administrative access to crucial IT infrastructure.\u00a0 You absolutely have backup software in place on ALL your live servers, no matter what the situation… Yes, of course you do.<\/p>\n

But let\u2019s imagine for a moment that the insane scenario outlined above had happened to your company.\u00a0 Okay, forget the \u201ccandy to lawyers\u201d stuff \u2013 what would happen if your business lost the Exchange Server\u2019s data it depends on?\u00a0 Nothing good, we\u2019re willing to bet<\/p>\n

Given time, your business would eventually rebuild its client lists and contacts \u2013 but what would that downtime cost you? How many clients would you lose to competitors? How many people-hours would be put into chasing lost leads instead of generating new ones?\u00a0 The fact is \u2013 Exchange backup software matters.\u00a0 It\u2019s the safety net that ensures if something goes wrong, your business doesn\u2019t suffer.<\/p>\n

The simple truth is that when it comes to IT, something will go wrong at some point so you have to be ready for it. Honestly, Murphy<\/a> must have dabbled in Systems Administration at some point…<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

How exchange backup software should work<\/span><\/h2>\n

\"Exchange<\/p>\n

At the most basic level, the capabilities of your Exchange backup software need to reflect the importance of email related data to your business.\u00a0 More often than not, Exchange data is going to be essential to how your business operates.\u00a0 This is only becoming truer as technology continues its unabated advance towards the Matrix-like domination of humanity.\u00a0 Therefore, there are some key functions that you\u2019ll want to ensure your Exchange backup software is getting right.<\/p>\n

One feature that\u2019s a must-have for any Exchange backup software is the ability to perform backups while Exchange is still running.\u00a0 If your software requires you to stop the Exchange Server, we\u2019re sorry to tell you it\u2019s time to go shopping.\u00a0 Live Exchange backups are usually done using something called a VSS snapshot<\/a>.\u00a0 They\u2019re important for all businesses because email never sleeps.\u00a0 No matter what time you schedule your backup to run, you can pretty much guarantee there\u2019s going to be new data populating the Exchange server while it\u2019s running \u2013 you don\u2019t want to miss it.<\/p>\n

Another critical Exchange backup feature is the ability to make application consistent backups. This is another VSS feature and means that all of your Exchange data is backed up at a single point of time. \u00a0All the data is consistent. This is crucial because Exchange is a database and if the data is not consistent, you have lost your database integrity.\u00a0 Bottom line? That\u2019s bad for your server, your database and your emails.<\/p>\n

Similarly, you\u2019ll want to be able to restore mail items into a live Exchange Server without needing to shut it down.\u00a0 Why, you ask? Because should there be a couple of corrupted mail items you need to restore, you don\u2019t want to have to take your whole system offline in order to do so.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re running a Hyper-V system, then you need to be sure that your Exchange backup software can also manage a restore of mail items from within a Hyper-V guest.\u00a0 It\u2019s one thing to open an Exchange database, access a mail box and restore a mail item. \u00a0It\u2019s a whole other kettle of fish to do this when your Exchange Server is running in a Hyper-V guest. \u00a0If you\u2019re running Hyper-V, then you need Exchange backup software that can operate in a virtual environment<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Another important function is Exchange Granular Restore.\u00a0 Essentially, it gives you the ability to restore individual mail items (e.g. emails, contacts, appointments, etc), rather than having to restore the entire system.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also important to make sure your Exchange backup software can do both an Exchange Server restore and an Exchange mailbox or mail items restore \u2013 using the same type of backup.\u00a0 If you have to create a separate backup for individual items and the system databases as a whole, you\u2019re not getting the right bang for your buck!<\/p>\n

Okay, so how can you make sure your Exchange backup software is pulling its weight for your company?<\/p>\n

Making sure your\u00a0Exchange backup software is\u00a0in touch with your company’s needs<\/span><\/h2>\n

\"Exchange<\/p>\n

Fortunately, ensuring your Exchange backup software addresses all of your company\u2019s needs is simple and inexpensive with BackupAssist.\u00a0 BackupAssist v8 offers a wealth of features your business will need for adequate Exchange Server protection, plus a low-cost Add-on called Exchange Granular Restore.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s suitable for all of your organization\u2019s backup needs \u2013 whether you\u2019re an SMB or an enterprise scale multinational.<\/p>\n

BackupAssist\u2019s three backup job types (File Protection<\/a>, File Archiving<\/a> and System Protection<\/a>) can all be used to backup an Exchange Server and they can all be restored with the built-in Restore Console.\u00a0 Plus, they all support the Exchange Granular Restore Add-on to restore individual mail items.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re running a Hyper-V system, we also offer a Hyper-V Granular Restore Add-on for use with System Protection backups.<\/p>\n

BackupAssist Exchange Protection offers:<\/p>\n