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CloudBacko Pro backup software allows you to back up individual mailboxes in your Microsoft Exchange Server 2016 with the MS Exchange Mail Level Backup Module. This module provides a set of tools to protect your mailboxes and public folders on Microsoft Exchange Server 2016. This includes backup and recovery of individual emails, contacts, calendars and other mail items in your mailboxes and public folders, with snapshots / versioning, and retention policy to protect even email that you may have accidentally deleted from your Exchange 2016 mailboxes or public folders.
Mail Level Backup must be utilized in conjunction with full Information Store Backup as Mail Level backup for Microsoft Exchange Server is not designed to fully protect an Exchange Server, but to facilitate easy backup and fast restoration of individual emails, contacts, calendars or public folder, etc.
CloudBacko Pro supports standalone backup option and Database Availability Group (DAG) backup option for Exchange server Mail Level backup.
Exchange Server 2016 Mail Level backup and restore can be performed by installing CloudBacko Pro either on the Exchange server 2016 hosting the database or on a remote backup machine.
Below is the system architecture diagram illustrating the major elements involved in the backup and restore process among the Microsoft Exchange Server 2016 and CloudBacko Pro.
Standalone: The latest version of CloudBacko Pro is installed on the Exchange Server which is connected to the Internet.
Database Availability Group (DAG): The latest version of CloudBacko Pro is installed on all the DAG members on Exchange server which is connected to the Internet, and all the DAG members share the same backup set.
Standalone: The latest version of CloudBacko Pro is installed on the remote backup machine which is connected to the Internet.
Database Availability Group (DAG): The latest version of CloudBacko Pro is installed on the remote backup machine which is connected to the Internet, and all the DAG members share the same backup set.
We are committed to bringing you a comprehensive Exchange 2016 Mail Level backup solution with CloudBacko Pro. Below are some key areas that we can help to make your backup experience a better one.
We understand that restore could be a time and resources consuming process, which is why CloudBacko Pro is designed with advanced technologies to make restore a fast and efficient process by restoring individual mail items without the need to restore the whole Exchange server database.
CloudBacko Pro supports recovery directly to a live production MS Exchange server, so there is no service interruption or downtime incurred, and also the user mailboxes do not have to be disabled and can function normally during the recovery procedure.
The backup resources can be mailbox level, folder level and even item level.
CloudBacko Pro provides backup and restore option for different version of exchange server to fulfill your requirement.
You may wish to run backup at a specified time interval of your choice, that’s why we also allow you to set your own backup schedules so that you can take full control of the time when to perform backup.
We understand your Exchange mail objects may contain sensitive information that requires to be protected, that is why your backup data will be encrypted with the highest level of security measure.
Multi-thread Backup: The technology utilizes the computing power of multiple CPU cores for creating multiple backup and restore threads to produce fast backup and restore performance.
The default setting for MS Exchange 2016 mail level backup sets supports:
You are strongly recommended to configure or check all the settings below to confirm all the requirements are met before you proceed with the Exchange Mail Level backup and restoration.
Latest CloudBacko Pro must be installed either on the Exchange Server 2016 hosting the database or on the remote backup machine.
One Microsoft Exchange Add-on Module is required for the backup of all user mailboxes. No license is required for public folder.
The default Java heap size setting on CloudBacko Pro is 2048MB. For Exchange 2016 mail level backup, it is highly recommended to increase the Java heap size setting to be at least 4096MB to improve backup and restore performance. The actual heap size is dependent on amount of free memory available on your Exchange 2016 server.
Temporary Directory folder is used by CloudBacko Pro for storing backup set index files and any incremental or differential delta files generated during a backup job. To ensure optimal backup/restoration performance, it is recommended that the temporary directory folder is located on a local drive with sufficient free disk space.
Scheduled backup is required if you choose to back up in DAG option on Exchange server as CloudBacko Pro on all DAG members will base on the scheduled backup time to start backup on all the individual DAG member at the same time.
Ensure all nodes have mailbox role. This can be checked by accessing the Exchange admin center (EAC).
MS Exchange Server 2016 Cumulative Update 4 (CU4) or above is supported.
The Windows user account used for the backup must be a member of the following security groups.
Login to the Exchange admin center, under permissions, admin roles. Assign the user to be running the backup as member of the following admin roles:
The Windows user account must have an Exchange Server mailbox. Refer to the URL below for more information.
Refer to the following article from Microsoft for more details on how to check if an account is mailbox enabled and how to enable it: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/Exchange/recipients/create-user-mailboxes?view=exchserver-2019
Ensure that the “Hide from address lists” option is unchecked for all mailboxes to be selected for backup. Mailbox hidden from the address list will not be shown in the backup source selection menu.
As Exchange 2016 mail level backup and restore is implemented using Microsoft EWS API (Exchange Web Services), which enables CloudBacko Pro to access mailbox items such as email message, meetings, notes, calendar, contact, etc, without any additional installation or complicated setup required on the Exchange 2016 Server or remote backup machine, only port 443 must be configured to allow communication between CloudBacko Pro and Exchange server.
Ensure all MS Exchange related services have been started, particularly the MS Exchange Information Store.
To verify this setting, launch the Services menu by clicking Start then typing “Services” in the search box. All Exchange related services should be started by default, in case it is not, turn it on by right clicking the item and then select Start.
Ensure the MS Exchange Mailbox and Public Folder databases are mounted. This can be verified by Exchange Management Shell or Exchange Admin Center (EAC).
Ensure that Windows PowerShell 5.1 Engine is installed. To install the feature:
Ensure .Net Framework 4.6.2 Features is installed. Please refer to the following URL for detailed information: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/Exchange/plan-and-deploy/system-requirements?view=exchserver-2016
This feature can be enabled by accessing Server Manager > Dashboard > Manage > Add Roles and Features Wizard > Feature Page.
Below are the supported mailbox types of Exchange Server 2016 Mail Level backup.
Type | Supported? |
---|---|
User mailbox | ✔ |
Room Mailbox | ✔ |
Equipment Mailbox | ✔ |
Public Folder | ✔ |
Public Folder Mailbox | ✔ |
Shared Mailbox | ✔ |
Below are the items that you can backup or restore from an Exchange Server 2016 Mail Level backup set.
Folder | Supported? |
---|---|
Inbox | ✔ |
RSS Feeds | ✔ |
Drafts | ✔ |
Junk Email | ✔ |
Sent Items | ✔ |
Tasks | ✔ |
Deleted Items | ✔ |
Calendar | ✔ |
Contacts | ✔ |
Notes | ✔ |
Archive | ✔ |
For backup and restoration of Exchange 2016 Mail Level backup set, there is some limitation:
Backup source (English) | Action | Destination User with Chinese as default language settings |
---|---|---|
Inbox | Merge | 收件箱 |
Outbox | Merge | 寄件匣 |
Sent Items | Merge | 寄件備份 |
Deleted Items | Merge | 刪除的郵件 |
Drafts | Merge | 草稿 |
Junk E-Mail | Merge | 垃圾電郵 |
Calendar | Create new folder | Calendar |
Notes | Create new folder | Notes |
The following are some best practices or recommendations we strongly recommend you follow before you start any Exchange Server 2016 Mail Level backup and restore.
Example-1: There are 100 mailboxes that need to be backup, you can divide 20 mailboxes into one backup set.
Backup Set Name | Mailbox Number |
---|---|
Backup-Set-1 | No.1 – 20 |
Backup-Set-2 | No.21 – 40 |
Backup-Set-3 | No.41 – 60 |
Backup-Set-4 | No.61 – 80 |
Backup-Set-5 | No.81 – 100 |
If there are new mailboxes added, you can create new backup set for the new mailboxes.
Example-2: There are 100 mailboxes that needs to be backup, you can divide mailboxes into backup sets in alphabetic order.
Backup Set Name | Mailbox Name Start with |
---|---|
Backup-Set-1 | A – E |
Backup-Set-2 | F – J |
Backup-Set-3 | K – O |
Backup-Set-4 | P – T |
Backup-Set-5 | U – Z |
If there are new mailboxes added, you can add the new mailboxes into the original backup set by the corresponding alphabetic order.