Abstract

One of the most mission critical aspects of large, medium and small business today is communication. The fastest growing form of communication today is electronic mail, or affectionately called e-mail. Not only is it much faster than conventional mail, less time consuming then phone calls, more secure then faxes, it also leaves a trail of proof of communication.

Exchange Server 2007 is Microsoft’s solution to manage small and large e-mail demands.
Exchange can be access via a web console, which makes it a very useful tool for users who travel, and gives the option for the administer to have webmail only.

With the value of e-mail being at an all time high, it is also imperative to have a backup solution for your SharePoint and Exchange servers. Symantec’s Backup Exec is a backup solution that will meet both of these requirements.

This document will explain how to install Exchange, create 500 users via command prompt, install Backup Exec, and backup SharePoint and Exchange.

Requirements

PC with Server 2008/SharePoint installed.
Client PC
Exchange CD
Backup Exec CD
Part I

Installation of Microsoft Exchange 2007

1. Insert the Exchange DVD into the DVD Rom
2. If Exchange does not start right away navigate to the setup.exe file and double click
3. Select Typical Exchange Server Installation.
4. Enter your Exchange Organization information.
5. If this is your first Exchange server in the organization you need to set up your Clients outlook settings.
6. Select Finish, the Server is installed.

Now to create users from a .csv file

7. Open the Exchange Management Shell
8. Enter: $Password=Read-Host "Enter Password" –AsSecureString
9. Enter a password that will be used for each user
10. Navigate to the directory where the user CSV file is
11. Type : Import-CSV user.csv | ForEach {new-mailbox -alias $_.alias -name $_.name -userPrincipalName $_.UPN -database "Mailbox Database" -org Users -Password $Password -ResetPasswordOnNextLogon $False}
12. That will create all the users that are in the file, all with the same password.

Installation of Backup Exec

1. Insert the Backup Exec DVD and run the setup
2. Accept the terms
3. If purchased enter the key, else use trial
4. Choose the features you would like to install I chose
a) Backup Exec Windows Servers
b) Tape Device Drivers
c) Online Documentation
d) Create Clone CD
e) Copy Server Configurations
f) Advanced Open File Option
g) Intelligent Disaster Recovery
h) Active Directory Recovery Agent
i) Agent for Exchange Server
j) Agent for SharePoint
k) Agent for SQL Server
l) Central Admin Server Option
m) Desktop and Laptop Option
5. Select the desired Directory
6. New SQL express Database if you do not have an existing on, else navigate to the desired database
7. Install
8. Finish

Backing UP SharePoint

I am going to show you how to use SharePoint to backup itself

1.
Using Backup Exec

To create a backup select the BACKUP tab and select the desired backup. There are many different files that you can back up and many different configuration options. You can configure Full or I incremental backups, you can choose what times, days, hours minutes, or seconds. There are many different options that can be used in different situations.

1. Select Backups
2. Select Next
3. Select the files you would like to back up. If we are going to backup our back up, the select c:\sharepoint to get the SharePoint backup we just made.
4. You can also select Exchange now
5. Select Microsoft Information Store (which contains all the files needed)
6. Select Next
7. Next
8. Next
9. Choose the type of back up you would like to perform
10. Select the location of backup
11. Finish

Restoring Exchange

1. Send yourself an email, do the previous tasks
2. When back is done delete that email.
3. Select the restore tab
4. Select the New Restore Tab
5. Select Microsoft Information Store
6. Click Run Now
7. Check to see if the e-mail you deleted was restored

Summary
Over all, this entire project had easy and difficult moments. The actual installs all went relatively smooth. The wizards are easy to follow and contain most of the information required to make accurate decisions on what to do next. Choosing the right files to back up was difficult, and costly. At one point I corrupted my database and had to reinstall SharePoint to get it to work properly. That is why I choose to use the SharePoint built in backup instead. Exchange is easier as it is all contained in the one folder.

At the cost of around $700 – 800 per module this is a great backup solution once it is learned. I will recommend it in the field if given the chance.