Hi V.K,
Well, Backup Exec 2010 has officially been released, and it offers a lot of new tech...support for Exchange 2010; support out-the-box for Windows Server 2008 R2 and R2 Core (as full media installations); deduplication etc. So if you can look at that, great.
Otherwise at a minimum I would suggest Backup Exec 12.5 with SP3 loaded.
You need to consider the following:
1. Exchange agent license needed to do full Information Store backups/restores online without taking the IS offline to do either. This allows GRT restores. This is 1 Exchange license per server.
2. SQL agent license needed for the same reason above. This is 1 license per SQL server, not per DB.
3. Do not use VSS or Advanced Open File Option with either. I use AOFO with Exchange with no problems, but what works for me may not work for you. Symantec advise against it. I can vouch for not using AOFO with SQL, as it prevents database restore redirections.
4. All you need to do is load the licenses on your media server, and create a selection list with SQL and Exchange together (no files, System States etc), and then create a job that is associated with it.
5. Look at creating a GFS policy for Files/System State etc, and a GFS Policy for Exchange/SQL(easier to maintain), which will give you a Daily, Weekly Monthly rotation on tapes, and you can customise the start times, dates they run on etc.
6. Using #6, it is possibly to run 2 jobs to the same tape...read up on my article here...
| https://www-secure.symantec.com/connect/articles/backing-databases-and-files-same-tape-separate-jobs-using-backup-exec |
With the size of your backups, I would go with FULL backups too...When you use the SQL/Exchange agents, all that needs to be selected is the Exchange Information Store and the SQL (Full or instances) DBs. Comitting logs is done by Backup Exec AFTER it is finished backing up those 2 items.
Hope this helps?
Laters!
