Avamar and Exchange Integration

Avamar supports Exchange 2007 and 2010 on x64 architecture.  2010SP2 requires 2008SP2/2008R2 and 2007SP3 requires 2003SP2/2008SP2/2008R2.  Exchange 2010 DAG configurations are supported, as are Single-copy Clusters (SCC), LCR, CCR, SCR.

There are 3 Avamar client components for Exchange.  They are Windows client (required for all installations), Avamar Plugin for Exchange VSS (required) and Avamar Plugin for Exchange Granular Level Restore (GLR) which is optional.  Also required is an AvamarBackupUser, and this user must be set up and the Avamar Services set to run under its context.

Exchange 2010 with Exchange VSS plugin is good for database, stand alone (non-DAG) databases, and will backup both active and passive databases in a DAG environment.  Exchange 2007 with the Exchange VSS will backup Storage Groups on active and passive nodes in a CCR/SCR as well as stand along (non-CCR) Exchange servers. 

All Exchange backup requires a Windows client and can be backed up to either Avamar or Data Domain storage. 

The Exchange Cluster Configuration (ECC) Tool is used to configure the cluster on the active node of the Exchange cluster, then settings are replicated to the passive node.  Then use the Avamar Cluster Configuration to configure the backup to run against the passive database to minimize load on active database and on users.

In a 2010 DAG, install the Windows and Exchange VSS on each server in the DAG, then another DAG resource using the ECC Tool.  The DAG client coordinates a federated backup of the passive databases.

The Exchange VSS will do full database DR recovery to the original or new location.  The Exchange GLR will restore to the 2010 RDB or 2007 RSG on either the original or different servers.  GLR is needed for message-level recovery.

Installing GLR requires a reboot of the Exchange server, which can be post-phoned until the moment of restore.  When installing the GLR, while not necessary, it is recommended to move the active databases off the server being installed.  Always use the Avamar Configuration Checker for Microsoft Windows, as well.