BE 11d & Exchange 2007

[Pavel_Grigorkin]

Is BE 11d compatible with Exchange Server 2007?

[Asma_Tamboli]

Hello,


Unfortunately Backup Exec 11d does not support Exchange 2007. Please check out the SCL for the same:

http://support.veritas.com/docs/286600

Thanks!

[Tom_Agerbo_Niel]

When will there be an update so it will be able to support Exchange 2007 ?

[Kenneth_Sheppar]

These fools cannot support Exchange 2003 yet with BE 11d. I certainly wouldn't hold your breath on the Exchange 2007 support. What a scam this version has truly become and known to be among its users.

[Russ_Perry]

BE 11d does not support Exchange 2007 but it will most likely support it within a couple months of official release with a patch or upgrade.

And, contrary to comments here, other than some Active Directory issues with the GRT functionality, both API and Snapshot backups/restores are working fine for Exchange 2003.

Russ

[Kenneth_Sheppar]

Russ, the GRT backup and restores may be working for you, but I can assure you that you're in a minority in that many, many more users have posted detailed examples of GRT not working in production environments. I've personally installed 11d with all updates on 4 completely different networks on many servers and GRT behavior is the exactly the same when trying to restore individual mail items that were backed-up via GRT to tape and disk. This has been try with continuous jobs or simply scheduled jobs. I've also performed some tests on my own test network and servers trying things that I would never attempt in a production environment and all is the same.

Consider yourself lucky, Russ.

Ken Sheppard

[Russ_Perry]

Kenneth,
You missed my point. I was responding to your comment: 'These fools cannot support Exchange 2003 yet with BE 11d.' in saying that I can back up and restore Exchange 2003. GRT replaces the mailbox backups of 10d and prior and does have problems. I've seen these issues so far:

- Restore selections from backup to tape are missing some or all mailboxes. This is caused by a difference between the mail attribute and the legacyexchangedn attribute in Active Directory. When the catalogs are built and put on tape, AD is queried and a difference between the attributes results in a null return.

- Restored mail messages are missing attachments or embedded items. Not sure what's causing this since it isn't consistent behavior.

The GRT backup/restores, once working properly, will be a HUGE advantage over the slow and error filled mailbox backups the prior versions used. What errors are you seeing?

Russ

[Kenneth_Sheppar]

Russ, thanks for your reply and input on the current 11d issues.

The reason I have used the term "fools" is because I strongly believe Symantec support has EARNED this title. When and if they reply to these post, they clearly don't read the post and this is so very apparent by there "suggestions and posts." They will almost always advise to install hotfix this and that when the original post clearly points out that all updates have been applied. Another favorite response seems to be a simple "Can you please update us on your issue" even though nothing has been solved or even suggested to solve the issue of the post.

As for my issues, I have been able to manage to get normal backups to tape and disk work correctly. I did have to rebuild all of my policies, jobs and sets following the 10d to 11d upgrade because my pre-11d backup were failing after the upgrade. My SQL agent backups are fine and I'm simply using the legacy mailbox backup with the Exchange agent. Of course, this takes way, way too long with a larger IS. My backup performance has been about the same as with 10d and I'm using LTO1 and LTO3 drive and a Dell NAS for B2D. My CPS data share backups pretty much worked perfectly following my 11d upgrade.

So to sum all of my issues up. I simply cannot use or trust GRT continuous or tape backups. And this is the ONLY reason I actually upgraded because of the tremendous gain this would allowed me with nightly backups. It's just sad that the biggest marketing feature of the whole product absolutely does not work. It boarders on criminal in my oppinion.

Ken

[Kingsley_Mok]

Ken,

Like some of us who had upgraded to BE 11d because of GRT, we feel your pain and frustration. After a month of testing, and aggravation, we've decided to uninstall BE 11d and return it for a full refund.

We are going back to 10.x where it was working fine and stable than the 11d.

It is apparent that Symantec's QA department lack real world sense in testing out their product before releasing it.

[Ben_Jardine]

same here ! ALL scheduled jobs from 9.1 don't work when "upgraded" to 11d...this is a disgrace...

We have installed all outstanding updates/patches via Live Update and none of the scheduled jobs work!

[Dennis_Thornton]

I've heard that it will work with Exchange 2007 for mailbox backups. GRT apparently doesn't work with 2003 so it wouldn't with 2007.

As with anything in 11d, you should do extensive testing before you rely upon it for backups.

[Corey_Wilson]

I have a feeling that what you are going to see is Symantec release another whole new version of this product in the next couple months that fixes the current issues with 11d AND support Exchange 2007 and market it is a whole new product.

Thats probably why we are not seeing any updates for this version and when we do they are spread out months at a time. There are many pressing issues which should be a priority for the company to fix, they have been known and documented for a couple months now. There is absolutly no reason a fix for these show stopping issues should not yet already been released.

[Mark_Ellis]

Hi,

This thread seems to have been dormant for a month, so... Anyone at Symantec care to comment on progress re: Exchange 2007.

Imagine my horror at installing our new Exchange 2007 cluster over the last week only to find that Backup Exec 11 does not support it. Now I am sitting waiting with my mailboxes on the olf 2003 server because Symantec don't seem to be able to pull their fingers out of their...

I am also somewhat stunned that Symantec have posted a press release stating support for this new product (Exchange 2007) without ACTUALLY doing anything about it.

Come on... Waiting...

Mark - facing another Symantec farce since their purchase of BE.

[Jason_McClellan]

No kidding.. I just got my Ex2007 licenses and new hardware, but neither of my Symantec products (backup exec and mail security) support it, and they are mum on when they might. Quite the piss-off. Even if they would just come out and say a timeframe when we could expect it, it wouldn't be so annoying.. it is the silence that is deafening!

[Dennis_Thornton]

I have a 9:30AM webcast on DPM v2 protecting Exchange 2007.

[Jason_McClellan]

Where can we find this webcast?

[The_STN_Guy]

Hi Dennis, I deleted your post with the URL linking to a competitor's webcast. Let's keep the discussions focused on Symantec products and not as an advertising tool.

[Jason_McClellan]

Tom

While I can appreciate Symantec's not wanting to support communication regarding other company's products, I have to say that if your customers were getting the answers they are looking for from Symantec, we wouldn't be entertaining such things at all.

For every one person here in the forums speaking out, there might be another 10, 50, or 100, (who knows what the number is) sitting in there office fuming about Symantec's lack of action and silence on these issues.

Communication with your customers is everything.

[The_STN_Guy]

Hi Jason,

I understand your point. However, this is a customer-to-customer discussion forum. Customers helping customers.

However, Symantec does understand that sometimes we need to join the conversation and help -- and we do just that today whenever possible.

That said, we are actively looking at ways to enhance these forums -- and part of this project involves making this a place where customers can get the answers they need -- if not from customers, then from us.

I appreciate your candor and your feedback.

-Tom

[Jason_McClellan]

I personally appreciate the intention of the forums is not primarily for direct technical support, but rather is a peer-to-peer environment. But little else remains - one of the issues is Symantec's lack of any response to technical support email! And phoning in is a last resort of the desperate, when and if I have nothing better to do than spend hours on hold only to end up talking to someone who knows less than I do and can give me no action.

Not to mention that these particular forums are only for Backup Exec - and many people are asking what happened to the Symantec stuff, ie Mail Security.

It would go a long way if Symantec would get forums alive again for all their products, not just former Veritas stuff. Personally, I find it rather annoying that I pay thousands of dollars per year for maintenance on my Enterprise AV package, but my only support option is spending hours on the horn for telephone support.

That said, it is obvious that many people expect more 'support' from the forums than forums are meant for. Perhaps it would be beneficial to all if there were some more prominent notices on the main page, title block, or somewhere obvious that stated clearly that this is a peer-to-peer environment, so people shouldn't expect direct symantec support - if they get any, it's bonus.

IMHO