Backup of email extender server

Thank you for this Stephane, I will look into this.

If i have run the "exsuspend.exe -suspend" command, can i then backup the SQL databases and the fileystem seperatley as these will be backed up seperatley to avamar (in serial, not in parallel.)

Also if I use the SQL backup plugin, I'm not sure if all of the databases are garanteed to be backed up as of the same point in time. It appears in the log to go through each database one at a time.

I may just backup the entire system using a VSS snapshot of the filesytem to Avamar, as this will garantee all files on the machine are at the same point in time. If i do do this, do you know of any temporary email extender data which can be excluded?

Thanks again,

Dave.

Dave,

Since Stephane is out today, I will answer your additional questions.

"If i have run the "exsuspend.exe -suspend" command, can i then backup  the SQL databases and the fileystem seperatley as these will be backed  up seperatley to avamar (in serial, not in parallel.)"

As long as the services are still suspended and have remained as such, you can back the SQL EmailXtender DB and file system separately.  The system is static when services are suspended, so neither the file system nor DB will have changed or will be out of sync.  Of course, this is provided the services were not made active at any time during the backups.

"Also if I use the SQL backup plugin, I'm not sure if all of the  databases are garanteed to be backed up as of the same point in time. It  appears in the log to go through each database one at a time."

I cannot speak to this statement as I am not a SQL expert.  I did try to Google some information on the SQL backup plugin, but struck out.

"I may just backup the entire system using a VSS snapshot of the  filesytem to Avamar, as this will garantee all files on the machine are  at the same point in time. If i do do this, do you know of any temporary  email extender data which can be excluded?"

You can consider excluded the binaries of EmailXtender as these should change infrequently.  More importantly, verify you are backing up what Stephane mentioned earlier as this is the heart and soul of your system.

Thank you.

MJ

Thank you very much for your answer.

I have decided to back up the entire server using a VSS snapshot of all volumes on the machine. The only remaining question i have is with the exsuspend.exe utility.

I plan to run "exsuspend.exe -suspend" as a pre-backup script and then "exsuspend.exe -resume" as a post-freeze script.

I have tested the Avamar client on the server and the .emx (disk-extended) files are backed up as metadata files with 0 bytes size - which is good.

The process will run as follows:

1 - Avamar server starts scheduled backup on client.

2 - Avamar client backs up the windows system state.

3 - Avamar client on email extender server runs the pre-backup script and suspends the extender services.

4 - Avamar client calls VSS on the extender server to take a snapshot of all volumes.

5 - Once the VSS snapshot has completed the Avamar client will run the post freeze script.

6 - Avamar client backs up the snapshot of the server.

7 - Avamar client releases the VSS snapshot of the server.

My question is that because there is only a short space of time between steps 3 and 4, do i need to use the "exsuspend.exe -block" command after my "exsuspend.exe -suspend" so I can be sure the -suspend completed before the disks are frozen / snapshot is complete?

Thanks again,

Dave.

Edit: the reason i ask about the -block command is that i'm not sure my understanding of it is correct.

Good Morning,

I have always used the -Block command.

Having said that, the -block command is enabled automatically when you use the -timeout option.

I would be more concerned with the -timeout option and make sure it is set to a value high enough to allow for all the EX Services to suspend/resume.

Hopefully this answers your questions.

Regards

Stephane