VEEAM and Exchange 2010 backup

[cvoisey]

Is there a guide available specifically for backing up Exchange data & logs?
Googling does not seem to turn up much info.

As an effort to save space I'd like to back up only the Exchange related data, rather than the entire machine.

[Gostev]

Veeam is an image-level backup solution, not file level. You can only backup the entire machine. Note that non-Exchange related data (OS files) are typically quite small comparing to Exchange data. Moreover, because of built-in deduplication, most of this data is only stored once when you are backing up multiple VMs.

Exchange VM backup is straightforward with Veeam, so really no guides are required. You can backup this VM normally, just like any other VM, but be sure to enable application-aware processing setting in the backup job wizard. With this option enabled, backup engine will recognize that there is Exchange running in the VM, and will perform additional backup steps specific to Exchange.

Thanks.

[cvoisey]

Thank very much for the information.

[jftuga]

I think the next question you should consider is how to restore Exchange data stores, mailboxes, individual emails, calendar events, etc.

-John

[Gostev]

Database files can be restored with our instant file level restore functionality, and for Exchange item level restores v5 ships the dedicated wizard (there are tons of existing discussions about it).

[Gotenks]

Moreover, because of built-in deduplication, most of this data is only stored once when you are backing up multiple VMs.

Does this mean you have to put all VM's in one Job to do backups at the same time to get this functionality? I have 3 jobs and they point to different folder locations in the NFS. Am I doing it wrong?

[foggy]

To get higher deduplication ratio, it is advisable to have fewer jobs with more VMs each. It is not necessary though to backup all VMs with one job - if you group VMs made from the same template, you will still have perfect deduplication along with the ability to run several concurrent jobs that result in shorter backup window.

[linux4guru]

Just curious on how the network i/o be if you are doing a very first veeam backup of your E14. We have two E14 in a VM envi and each E14 combined during veeam backup will exceed 2TB - so there is no way for me to even consider veeam backup to backup E14 unless I create at least two more exchange and migrate some users out to the new servers.

[Gostev]

What is the problem with exceeding 2TB size for backup size?