Restoring Exchange Storage Groups
An Exchange Protection Plan backs up Exchange databases and log files in each Storage Group selected. After the plan runs, eligible logs are truncated. This page discusses the process of restoring and recovering Exchange databases.
This software protects Microsoft Exchange using the VSS Writer included in newer versions of Windows. When an Exchange Storage Group is backed up by the software the VSS writer is engaged and the files that compose the databases, log files, and ancillary meta files are backed up in an open state (while the mailbox stores are mounted). Email transactions and new log files are deferred in memory while the existing files are backed up. The databases are left in an open, victimized state, and recovery is necessary before restored databases can be remounted in Exchange.
When restoring, all files composing the Storage Groups will be restored to a place of your choosing. After restoring you will need to recover the Storage Groups using ESEUtil.exe before the individual databases can be used again by Exchange. Deciding to replace an existing damaged Exchange database, or simply to recover data from a mailbox determines if you should copy the restored files to the original location of the database files, or leave them in their restored location. The software will never restore the database files back to their original location due to the potential of corrupting running mailbox databases.
The process of restoring a protection plan begins with finding the archive time for the plan you want to restore. Refer to Finding a Plan's Archive Times.
Select the archive time you want to restore and the "Restore" button at the bottom right of the screen will become active. Click "Restore" and a "Storage Group Restore" dialog will appear.
To use the restored database files with Exchange, they must be recovered and reattached to the Exchange Server. For information on recovering and attaching databases to an Exchange Server please refer to the following links: