a few concerns/questions about backing up exchange 1

[edwinhunt]

hi all,

i just installed brightstor arcserve v11 on my windows 2003 server. i'm using this to backup my exchange 2003 enterprise w/sp1 (installed on win 2003-this is a separate server from my backup). i installed the exchange backup agent on my exchange server and the client agent for windows with no problem. i've created the brick level account thru this agent eventhough i will not be using brick level backup.

here's my first question:
how come i can not see the exchange organization view on my backup server? is this even possible? i know that when you installed arcserve backup on your exchange server you can see it. but can you see it if you put this on a separate backup server. from the documentation that i've found it looks like you can unless i'm reading it wrong. i've even installed the exchange management tools on my backup server and it still didn't help. can you please let me know?

here's my second concern:
with the setup indicated, i still configured my backup by expanding the server then selecting the first storage group. i'm doing full backup everyday and like what i've said i don't do brick-level. i just want to backup the database. my backup seems to be working, the transaction logs are getting cleared, it shows on the system manager that a full backup was done and i'm not getting any errors. when i scan the media, i can see that the databases file is in the tape. but here's my concern, when i go to restore then restore by session just to see it, when i expand the server, i can see the IS Store and the storage group and expand it without any problem (i can then see the private and public files) but i noticed that the select box (check/fill box?? -not sure what to call it)right next to this items are gray. everything else from the session backup is green except these databases. is this normal? is it because these can't be restored like a file. obviously i can't really test this thing out if my backup is working unless my server crashes but i just want to make sure that everything is working. i called CA support but they were not helpful at all. again i'm using the arcserve v11 both on my server and agent.

 

[davidmichel]

Does not matter where ARCserve is installed or where Exchange is installed. Where ever Exchange is the Exchange DB Agent is installed and ARCserve should see it.

 

[edwinhunt]

hi david,

thanks!! that's what i thought and that's what i saw from my documentation however, my arcserve doesn't. i still couldn't find anything that would help solve this mystery. i've checked a few newsgroup and like what i've said i even called CA without any luck. got any suggestion? i've uninstalled and re-installed the software a few times and i still couldn't see it.

thanks,
edwin

 

[davidmichel]

The Discovery Service is responsible for reporting and locating installed ARCserve products.

In the registry it creates the DiscoveryTable key, which lists all the systems with installed products and what those products are. It could be the system and or product is not listed or is listed but became corrupted &/or was not updated correctly.

First off make sure the Discovery Service is running.
Ck on both systems to make sure that both systems are listed along with the correct installed options.

Here are some things to try:
1) Make sure the Discovery Service is running.
2) Stop the Discovery Service, delete the DsicoveryTable registry key, then start the server again so it will be rebuilt.
3) If it still does not collect all the data it should then try running dsconfig.exe. \Program Files\CA\SharedComponents\BrightStor\CADS (If you path is different just do a search on the file).
4) Export the DiscoveryTable for one system that has all the data and import it into the other.

The Discovery Service does not need to be running all the time.

In dsconfig at the Summary tab click the Confige button. Sometimes TCP works better, sometimes Mailslots, and sometimes Both.

 

[edwinhunt]

hi,

thanks for the reply. i tried your suggestion and it still didn't work. i just don't know what it is that i'm doing wrong. if you have any more that you could think of, let me know...

-edwin

 

[tkaartama]

I have exactly the same problem. Is your client agent version 11 as is the backup program? I still have version 9, but if upgrading will not solve the problem, I will still wait with the upgrade.

 

[edwinhunt]

i have version 11 on both. it looks like the backup works, coz i can see the files when i scan the media. it's just that for some reason i can't see the exchange organization view.

 

[ICKensai]

If memory serves, you have to do the exchange backup/restores via the network neighborhood. Not the exchange organization view. CA tech support confirms this. I told them why the hell you even have the exchange organization view then? That really confused the hell out of me. So I ran the restore via Microsoft networks, then expanded the exchange server and then expand the exchange storage groups.

This also applies to SQL agents. You must do this via microsoft networks, cannot do it via client agents section.

Now I have a question. I have v9.01 SP1 and this is the first time for me to attempt a public folder store recovery on a exchange 2003 server. I have enabled the recovery storage group feature of 2003, but the brightstor agent does not list any groups on that server? Does this means the 9.x agent knows where to restore the pub/priv files to depending if it has a recovery storage group or not?