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BP1013 Best Practices for Enhancing Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 Data Protection and Availability 45
Remember that ASM/ME is integrated with the application layer in Microsoft Exchange. Do not
use direct SAN snapshots (for example, by using the PS Series group manager) to protect
Exchange mailbox databases, because they will not be application-consistent.
Protect the ASM/ME backup documents
The default location for the ASM/ME backup documents is on the local disk of the host where
ASM/ME is installed. Protect these documents by using a network or shared folder that is
regularly backed up. The loss of a backup document will break the link between the Smart
Copy and its corresponding SAN snapshot.
Capacity planning for Smart Copies
Snapshot reserve has a predictable utilization when the workload profile is known. Verify the
workload against a real Smart Copy and plan accordingly for the percentage of space
allocation required for the reserve area.
Creating ASM/ME Smart Copies
Plan to use the interactive scheduler or the command line to implement more time precise
snapshots.
In case of high resource contention, do not schedule a large number of Smart Copies to be
created at exactly the same point in time. Use a time off-set when appropriate.
Verify database consistency
Plan to regularly execute the checksum verification on the Smart copy snapshots. Use remote
hosts or global windows features to create the most suitable schedule for this process, and
offload the checksum processing from the mailbox database server.
Exchange mailbox databases layout
Do not create more than one Exchange mailbox database on a single volume. The Smart Copy
snapshot operating unit is an entire volume; every object present on it will be saved and
recovered accordingly. Plan to recover only the granular elements that have been damaged,
nothing more.
The use of collections in ASM/ME is allowed. A Smart Copy of a collection of volumes
containing multiple databases is treated as a single logical element and is backed up and
recovered as a unit. Recovery from a collection to an Exchange Recovery Database is the only
exception to the previous rule. A single database will be extracted from the collection and
recovered.
Isolation of databases and logs is not required anymore in Exchange Server 2010 when
deployed in a highly available configuration (DAG). Smart Copy interaction with the Exchange
VSS writer requires database and log volumes to be protected by the same snapshot (or
snapshot of a collection of volumes). Consider not splitting the database and logs into
different volumes unless other restrictions apply, because you will risk causing a torn Smart
Copy.