Microsoft Exchange Backup and Restore

This section aims to provide detailed information for backing up and restoring Microsoft Exchange Database 2007/2010/2013/2016/2019 and individual mail items and public folder items stored in Microsoft Exchange Server 2013 / 2016 / 2019 with AhsayOBM, also known as the Mail Level backup.

Microsoft Exchange Server is a mail server and calendar server, that helps small and medium scale organization to achieve better reliability and improved performance. It centralizes emails so that they can be backed up. It can also share calendars between different members of your organization.

While Mail Level backup must be utilized in conjunction with full Information Store Backup as Mail Level backup for Microsoft Exchange Server is not designed to fully protect an Exchange Server, but to facilitate easy backup and fast restoration of individual emails, contacts, calendars or public folder, etc.

AhsayOBM supports Standalone backup and Database Availability Group (DAG) backup option for Microsoft Exchange Server Database and Mail Level backup.

Microsoft Exchange Server Database 2013 backup and restore can be performed by installing AhsayOBM on Windows Server 2012 Standard and Windows Server 2012 R2.

Microsoft Exchange Server Database 2016 backup and restore can be performed by installing AhsayOBM either on Windows Server 2012 Standard, Windows Server 2012 R2, or Windows Server 2016 Standard.

Microsoft Exchange 2019 is supported on Windows 2019. Please refer to Supported operating systems for Exchange 2019.

Exchange Server 2013 / 2016 / 2019 Mail Level backup and restore can be performed by installing AhsayOBM either on the Exchange server 2013 / 2016 / 2019 hosting the database or on a remote backup machine.

We recommend you read first the AhsayOBM Overview (GUI) section. This will help you become familiar with the different functions, settings and features that can be configured in AhsayOBM. It will also be helpful to know the different features that can be customized in the backup set before creating one.

Run on Client (Agent-based) Backup

There are two kinds of backup for Microsoft Exchange, the Standalone backup and Database Availability Group (DAG) backup. This guide will focus mainly on how to create and restore a Microsoft Exchange Server and Microsoft Exchange Mail Level backup set.

This guide will only focus on:

How to create a Microsoft Exchange Server and Mail Level backup set using Standalone backup and Database Availability Group (DAG) backup.
How to run a backup job.
How to recover Microsoft Exchange Server and Mail Level backup set.

Below is the system architecture diagram illustrating the major elements involved in the backup and restore process among the Microsoft Exchange Server 2007/2010/2013/2016/2019, AhsayOBM and AhsayCBS.

Microsoft 365 Backup Capabilities and AhsayOBM v9.0.0.0 or above installed on Microsoft Exchange Server 2007/2010/2013/2016/2019

Standalone: The latest version of AhsayOBM is installed on Microsoft Exchange Server which is connected to AhsayCBS backup server through LAN or Internet.
Database Availability Group (DAG): The latest version of AhsayOBM is installed on all the DAG members on Microsoft Exchange Server which is connected to AhsayCBS backup server through LAN or internet, and all the DAG members share the same backup set. Exchange DAG support for Microsoft Exchange Server Database 2013/2016/2019.

Microsoft 365 Backup Capabilities and AhsayOBM v9.0.0.0 or above installed on Remote Backup Machine

Standalone: The latest version of AhsayOBM is installed on the remote backup machine which is connected to Exchange server and AhsayCBS backup server through LAN or internet.
Database Availability Group (DAG): The latest version of AhsayOBM is installed on the remote backup machine which is connected to DAG members on Exchange server and AhsayCBS backup server though LAN or internet, and all the DAG members share the same backup set.

The following steps are performed during a Microsoft Exchange backup job. For an overview of the detailed process for Steps 3, 5, 13, and 15, please refer to the following chapters of the Backup and Restore Guide (GUI).

Periodic Data Integrity Check (PDIC) Process (Step 3)
Backup Set Index Handling Process
- Start Backup Job (Step 5)
- Completed Backup Job (Step 15)
- Data Validation Check Process (Step 13)

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Run on Client Key Areas

We are committed to bringing you a comprehensive Microsoft Exchange Server Database 2007/2010/2013/2016/2019 and Exchange 2013 / 2016 / 2019 Mail Level backup solution with AhsayOBM. Below are some key areas that can help to make your backup experience a better one.

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Fast and Efficient Restore

Restore could be a time and resources consuming process, which is why AhsayOBM is designed with advanced technologies to make restore a fast and efficient process by restoring Microsoft Exchange Server full database.

AhsayOBM supports recovery directly to a live production MS Exchange server, so there is no service interruption or downtime incurred, and the user mailboxes do not have to be disabled and can function normally during the recovery procedure.

Backup of Selected Mailbox & Mailbox Items

The backup resources can be mailbox level, folder level, and even item level.

Flexible backup options:
- Only select the required mailboxes, specific folders, or items for backup.
Flexible restore options:
- Restore the whole mailbox contents or just one email.
- Restore mail items to the original mailbox or an alternate mailbox.
- Restore mail items to an alternate mailbox on another email domain.

Unlimited Versioning

AhsayOBM provides backup and restore option for different version of exchange server to fulfill your requirement.

Flexible Scheduling

You may wish to run backup at a specified time interval of your choice, that’s why we also allow you to set your own backup schedules so that you can take full control of the time when to perform backup.

Block Level Incremental Backup - This technology breaks down the backup files into multiple blocks and only the changed blocks will be backed up each time.

High level of Security with AES 256-bit Encryption

We understand your Exchange mail objects may contain sensitive information that requires to be protected, that is why your backup data will be encrypted with the highest level of security measure.

Un-hackable Encryption Key - to provide the best protection to your backup data, you can turn on the encryption feature which will default encrypt the backup data locally with AES 256-bit truly randomized encryption key.
Encryption Key Recovery - Furthermore, we have a backup plan for you to recover your encryption key in case you have lost it. Your backup service provider can make it mandatory for you to upload the encryption key to the centralized management console, the encryption key will be uploaded in hashed format and will only be used when you request for a recovery.

Centralized Management Console

Our enriched features on the centralized web console offers you a one-stop location for monitoring and managing your backup and restore. Below is an overview of what you can do with it. For more details regarding the setup and operations of the centralized management console, refer to the AhsayCBS Setup, AhsayCBS Backup and Restore, and AhsayCBS Monitoring for details.

Create/update/delete backup set
Cofigure user settings
Configure backup settings
View and download backup and restore reports
Monitor backup and restore live activities
Monitor storage statistic

Better Backup Performance & Higher Reliability

Multi-thread Backup: The technology utilizes the computing power of multiple CPU cores for creating multiple backup and restore threads to produce fast backup and restore performance.

The default setting for MS Exchange 2013/2016/2019 mail level backup sets supports:
- Backup of 4 mailboxes concurrently (4 threads).
- For each of the 4 mailboxes, now supports a maximum 4 mail items concurrently (4 threads).
As shown the technology translate into a total of 16 concurrent threads compared with a total 4 concurrent backup threads for Exchange 2007/ 2010/ 2013 mail level backup.
Index File Structure: The index file structure has been re-designed to improve the backup and restore performance.

Each Exchange 2013 / 2016 / 2019 mailbox will have its own individual index file instead of a single index file for all mailboxes within the backup set.

This new design eliminates any potential I/O performance bottlenecks when the index file is updated during each backup job, which can occur when using single index file structure for multi-thread concurrent backup.

Higher Reliability: The implementation of one index file per mailbox can significantly improve the overall resilience of backup and restore from index related issues.

For example, if a single index file is corrupted, it will only affect the corresponding mailbox, while other mailboxes selected for backup are unaffected.

Cost Effective

License is based on per user mailbox, so you only need to pay for the mailboxes that you wish to backup.

Flexible Deployment Options

AhsayOBM supports Mail Level backup and restore of Exchange Server 2013 / 2016 / 2019 by installing the client agent either on the Exchange server hosting the database, or on a remote backup machine.

Below is a comparison table on the differences on backup and restore with AhsayOBM installation on an Exchange server and on a remote backup machine.

	On Server Backup	Remote Backup
Backup	Backup jobs will utilize the Exchange server's resources, so it may impact the server performance. If the load on Exchange server is already high, this can impact the backup performance. There is minimal performance issues with the transfer of mail items from the Exchange mail store to AhsayOBM.	Backup jobs will utilize the remote backup machine's resources, therefore, there is minimal impact on the Exchange server performance. Backup performance can be affected by the network connection speed between the Exchange server and the remote backup machine, especially for connection over the Internet. General backup performance issues can be easily resolved by installing AhsayOBM on a more powerful backup machine.
Large Number of Mailboxes	Backup of a large number of mailboxes can take more time to complete. For example, it may not be possible to run multiple mail level backup sets concurrently on the Exchange server for 1000 user mailboxes, as it may affect the server performance, so administrator may be limited to start one backup set at a time. 1 backup set can only have a total of 16 concurrent threads by default.	Backup of a large number of mailboxes can take less time to complete. For example, 1000 user mailboxes can be divided into 5 separate backup sets of 200 mailboxes each. The 5 backup sets can be started concurrently on 1 machine or started by multiple machines. 5 backup sets * 16 concurrent threads = 80 concurrent threads.
Backup Scheduling	For environment with limited backup window, there may not be sufficient time to complete both database and mail level backup jobs on a daily basis.	For environment with limited backup window, remote backup may be a good option as the mail level backup can be completed remotely, while the database backup can be completed on the Exchange server at the same time period. Continuous backup can be enabled without significant impact on the Exchange server performance, as backup jobs will utilize the resources of the remote backup machine.
Costs	For Exchange DAG setup, the number of AhsayOBM licenses required is equal to the number of DAG members (nodes). For example, if there are 3 DAG members then 3 AhsayOBM licenses are required. If the Exchange server is already setup for database backups, then there is no additional license cost. Do not require provision of additional Windows machine.	Only requires 1 AhsayOBM license as remote backup of Exchange DAG only requires AhsayOBM to be installed on 1 machine. May require provision of additional Windows machine. It may also be possible to reuse existing AhsayOBM installation on a Windows machine.
Restore	The restore of mailbox items to another (standby) MS Exchange server, requires installation of AhsayOBM on the new MS Exchange server.	Easily restore mailbox items to another (standby) MS Exchange server, without the need to reinstall AhsayOBM. Restore mailbox items without direct / physical access to the MS Exchange server. Restore performance can be affected by any network connection issue between the Exchange server and the remote backup machine, especially if the connection is over the Internet.

Cloud Destination Backup

To offer you with the highest flexibility of backup destination, you can now back up mail objects to a wide range of cloud storage destinations. Utilizing cloud destination backup gives you an extra layer of protection in the event of a local drive corruption, where you will still be able to retrieve data from the cloud destination.

Below is a list of supported cloud destinations:

	Aliyun*		Microsoft Azure
	CTYun*		Microsoft OneDrive
	Amazon S3		Microsoft OneDrive for Business
	AWS S3 Compatible Cloud Storage		Rackspace
	Wasabi		OpenStack
	Backblaze		Dropbox
	Google Cloud Storage		FTP
	Google Drive		SFTP