Exchange 2003 DR Testing

21 Jan 2009 8:06 PM

Goob

I want to perform a test with our Exchange 2003 Server.
We are upgrading to 2007; however since we have new box sitting here, we
want to utilize it and document a DR scenerio.

I have the server OS as the same as our current Exchange Server and it
pretty much ready to install Exchange 2003 Server; however, it needs a domain
account and network connectivity to install.

I am a little lery about joining the box to the existing domain because I do
not want any conflicts between the two Exchange Servers. However, it appears
that I need the domain account and network connectivity to install it.

What I basically want to do is restore the Exchange DB from Backup exec and
then connect a laptop to the DR box and verify that I can connect with
Outlook and open a few mailboxes.....

Any comments/suggestions would be awesome.
Thanks in advance.

21 Jan 2009 9:48 PM

Ed Crowley [MVP]

I recommend that you keep the server off-network, name it the same as your
production server, build a new AD with the same name as your production AD
or, better, clone your existing AD, and install a new copy of Exchange on
it, naming the forest and administrative group the same. Leave this box
separate from your production network.

--
Ed Crowley MVP
"There are seldom good technological solutions to behavioral problems."
..

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"Goob" <G***@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:F6BD4370-5742-494A-9E5C-145A6495B7E3@microsoft.com...
>I want to perform a test with our Exchange 2003 Server.
> We are upgrading to 2007; however since we have new box sitting here, we
> want to utilize it and document a DR scenerio.
>
> I have the server OS as the same as our current Exchange Server and it
> pretty much ready to install Exchange 2003 Server; however, it needs a
> domain
> account and network connectivity to install.
>
> I am a little lery about joining the box to the existing domain because I
> do
> not want any conflicts between the two Exchange Servers. However, it
> appears
> that I need the domain account and network connectivity to install it.
>
> What I basically want to do is restore the Exchange DB from Backup exec
> and
> then connect a laptop to the DR box and verify that I can connect with
> Outlook and open a few mailboxes.....
>
> Any comments/suggestions would be awesome.
> Thanks in advance.

22 Jan 2009 2:46 PM

Goob

Thanks for the reply; however, will i still be able to physically connect
this box to the existing network. I will need to be able to do a restore
from the current Backup Exec Server to restore the data to the new box; will
this be a problem?

Randy

Show quoteHide quote

"Ed Crowley [MVP]" wrote:

> I recommend that you keep the server off-network, name it the same as your
> production server, build a new AD with the same name as your production AD
> or, better, clone your existing AD, and install a new copy of Exchange on
> it, naming the forest and administrative group the same. Leave this box
> separate from your production network.
> --
> Ed Crowley MVP
> "There are seldom good technological solutions to behavioral problems."
> ..
>
> "Goob" <G***@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:F6BD4370-5742-494A-9E5C-145A6495B7E3@microsoft.com...
> >I want to perform a test with our Exchange 2003 Server.
> > We are upgrading to 2007; however since we have new box sitting here, we
> > want to utilize it and document a DR scenerio.
> >
> > I have the server OS as the same as our current Exchange Server and it
> > pretty much ready to install Exchange 2003 Server; however, it needs a
> > domain
> > account and network connectivity to install.
> >
> > I am a little lery about joining the box to the existing domain because I
> > do
> > not want any conflicts between the two Exchange Servers. However, it
> > appears
> > that I need the domain account and network connectivity to install it.
> >
> > What I basically want to do is restore the Exchange DB from Backup exec
> > and
> > then connect a laptop to the DR box and verify that I can connect with
> > Outlook and open a few mailboxes.....
> >
> > Any comments/suggestions would be awesome.
> > Thanks in advance.
>
>

22 Jan 2009 5:29 PM

Ed Crowley [MVP]

I absolutely wouldn't connect a recovery server to the production network.
Another option would be to use your production Exchange server, or build
another server in the production organization and create a recovery storage
group and restore there. The latter option helps ensure that your restore
doesn't impact your users' performance. Just build the new server with a
new name as if it were a new mailbox server in your present organization.
There are some things you won't be able to do with this method, but you will
be able to use Exmerge to recover deleted mailboxes, folders and items from
your restored databases to the production server, if that's what you're
looking to do.

--
Ed Crowley MVP
"There are seldom good technological solutions to behavioral problems."
..

Show quoteHide quote

"Goob" <G***@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:777DB6E3-52A0-4571-BDDA-18CBC8EE964E@microsoft.com...
> Thanks for the reply; however, will i still be able to physically connect
> this box to the existing network. I will need to be able to do a restore
> from the current Backup Exec Server to restore the data to the new box;
> will
> this be a problem?
>
> Randy
>
> "Ed Crowley [MVP]" wrote:
>
>> I recommend that you keep the server off-network, name it the same as
>> your
>> production server, build a new AD with the same name as your production
>> AD
>> or, better, clone your existing AD, and install a new copy of Exchange on
>> it, naming the forest and administrative group the same. Leave this box
>> separate from your production network.
>> --
>> Ed Crowley MVP
>> "There are seldom good technological solutions to behavioral problems."
>> ..
>>
>> "Goob" <G***@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:F6BD4370-5742-494A-9E5C-145A6495B7E3@microsoft.com...
>> >I want to perform a test with our Exchange 2003 Server.
>> > We are upgrading to 2007; however since we have new box sitting here,
>> > we
>> > want to utilize it and document a DR scenerio.
>> >
>> > I have the server OS as the same as our current Exchange Server and it
>> > pretty much ready to install Exchange 2003 Server; however, it needs a
>> > domain
>> > account and network connectivity to install.
>> >
>> > I am a little lery about joining the box to the existing domain because
>> > I
>> > do
>> > not want any conflicts between the two Exchange Servers. However, it
>> > appears
>> > that I need the domain account and network connectivity to install it.
>> >
>> > What I basically want to do is restore the Exchange DB from Backup exec
>> > and
>> > then connect a laptop to the DR box and verify that I can connect with
>> > Outlook and open a few mailboxes.....
>> >
>> > Any comments/suggestions would be awesome.
>> > Thanks in advance.
>>
>>