How can I rebuild the Unity server ?

[cjrchoi11]

I want to clarify the Unity Disaster and Recovery. I¡¯m not clear even go through the white paper. Please guide me to make a right process.(and correct me my assumption)

My understanding for each tool is,

1. DiRT, backup and restore the Unity configuration, AD accounts and Subscriber¡¯s profile(Mailbox container only). So this cannot backup the stored voice mail..

2. MSBackup, backup and restore the Exchange Mailbox but no AD accounts.

3. ExMerge, backup and restore the exchange mailbox but not recommend for large number of mailboxes.

We have 250 Exchange mailboxes so decided use DiRT and backup application. tried as follows.

1. Restore DiRT first and MSBackup later. Working fine the Unity and subscriber but mailbox duplicaition. Red cross warning for the MSBackup restored mailbox. I cannot access the stored voice mail which restore from . MSBackup.

--> looks this solution not operational.

2. Restore exchange mailbox from MSBackup but no AD accounts. AD accounts created when I restore the DiRT but mailbox duplication.

--> Do I need restore AD accounts ? if yes, please guide me how to backup and restore the AD accounts.

What is right process to scratch rebuild when crash the Unity server ? what should I backup in the operational Unity server and how can I rebuild(restore) ?

Thanks,

[lindborg]

Your first assumption is incorrect - DiRT _can_ backup the messages - it uses ExMerge to do this but as noted as a regular backup mechanism this isn't ideal for large sites - for migrations (one time moves) this is fine, however. The help and training videos on www.CiscoUnityTools.com for the DiRT tools cover this in some detail. It might be worth checking them out.

Yes, a number of folks have run into trouble using the free MSBackup stuff when trying to restore later - short story is that it's not a very good backup tool which is one of the reasons we don't reccomend or support it. I don't know how or if MSBackup can be configured to create AD account (yes, you need these assuming you're Ex2000 - you didn't indicate which back end you were using). You'll have to refer to the help that comes with MSBackup - again we don't support this tool.

If you get the mailboxes and AD accounts restored properly and THEN run the DiRT restore, you should be fine - DiRT will find and bind to the right accounts using their mail alias which should, of course, match. We've had a number of folks (our in house testers included) that ran into this same problem with MSBackup creating bogus accounts with the red Xs in them and I don't know enough about the ins and outs of MSBackup to help you here.

I would reccomend you go get a good 3rd party backup product with some decent documentation such as Backup Exec (there are others, of course).