In Part 1 of this series I explored what needs to be backed up for each of the different Exchange Server 2007 server roles.  In this post I will demonstrate a Mailbox Server failure and the recovery of the mailbox database from backup.

Backing up the Databases

The first thing we’ll need is a backup of the databases on the Mailbox Server.  For this demonstration I am using the built in NTBackup program for Windows Server 2003 to back up both of the storage groups for the server.

Mailbox Server Failure

The next step is to cause a server failure.  In the real world a potential point of failure for Mailbox Servers is the storage.  Typically databases will be located on SAN volumes, and a storage failure will cause the database to go offline.  To simulate this I simply remove the database file from its path on the test server.

Restoring the Database

Before beginning the database restore operation we must first prepare the database for recovery.  Continue reading Exchange Server 2007 Backup and Recovery Part 2 – Mailbox Servers