Problems backing up Exchange 2007
We have got two servers at our company as described below:
Server1: Windows Server 2003 Standard SP2 (32 bit), Exchange 2003 SP2, Symantec Backup Exec 12.0 media server, tape drive
Server2: Windows Server 2008 Standard SP1 (64 bit), Exchange 2007 SP1, Backup Exec agent
We are in the process of migrating mailboxes from Server1 to Server2 and should be complete with that in a week or so. However, we ran into a problem when we attempted to backup Exchange 2007 from Server1. Backup Exec reported that it needed the “Exchange Management Tools for Microsoft Exchange Server 2007” installed on Server1. However, when I started to install the 32 bit version of those tools it gave me an error that I cannot install the Exchange 2007 tools to a server running Exchange 2003, even if I choose a different directory. Long term we will be moving the Backup Exec media server and tape drive from Server1 to Server2 so we just need an interim solution to allow us to backup Exchange until that occurs. Do you have any ideas? We have come up with the following options:
1. I first through of using the native Windows Server 2008 backup utility; however since we’re running Server 2008 Standard and not Small Business Server it doesn’t have the plugins to backup Exchange while it is live.
2. We could write a script to stop the Exchange 2007 services and back it up as a flat file using Backup Exec.
3. We could plug a USB hard drive into Server2 and install the Backup Exec Media Server there. Once the mailbox migration is complete we can remove the USB hard drive and install the tape drive from Server1.
Thanks!
Matthew
