AOMEI Cyber Backup
How to Achieve Instant VM Recovery with Exchange [Step-by-Step]
Is it possible to use instant VM recovery to restore Exchange Server? While using Veeam Instant Recovery to restore Exchange Server you may come across some issues that may prevent the process from completing successfully. But after taking care of some factors you can make instant VM recovery with exchange go smoothly.
By Amelia / Updated on December 9, 2024
Instant VM Recovery with Exchange
I’ve been playing around with instant VM recovery, and I’ve read/seen that it creates a snapshot when it spins up the new VM. I want to be able to use this feature to restore and Exchange server… Now I’m aware that snapshots are not supported for Exchange, and instant VM recovery automatically creates a snapshot. Will this cause any issues for me when using instant VM recovery to restore an Exchange server? Is it possible to use this feature for restoring Exchange?
- Question from Veeam R&D Forums
It is true that using snapshots in Microsoft Exchange can lead to potential problems because Exchange servers are very sensitive to snapshots because of their high volume of I/O operations and because the database relies on a consistent state. So it is not recommended to run Exchange servers on snapshots for long periods. However, this can be handled with care on Veeam Instant VM Recovery. This next article will focus on the considerations when restoring Exchange Server and the steps for Instant VM Recovery with Exchange with Veeam.
Key Considerations for Restoring an Exchange Server
You need to pay attention to the following factors when restoring an Exchange Server.
1. Temporary Nature of Instant VM Recovery
Virtual machines running directly from the backup repository are not optimized for long-term performance. You need to migrate virtual machines to production storage as soon as possible.
2. Exchange Database Consistency
Exchange databases must remain consistent after recovery. Veeam ensures application-aware processing during backups to truncate transaction logs and keep the database consistent. After recovery, verify that the Exchange Information Store is properly mounted.
3. Networking Conflicts
To ensure the recovered VMs do not conflict with the existing production network, you can disable the NIC during recovery to prevent IP or hostname conflicts.
Steps to Instant VM Recovery with Exchange
Step 1. Open Veeam Backup & Replication, navigate to the Home tab and locate the Exchange Server backup in the Backups section.
Step 2. Right-click the backup and select Instant Recovery > VMware VM or Microsoft Hyper-V VM, this depends on your hypervisor.
Step 3. Choose the most recent or relevant restore point for your needs.
Step 4. Select the target host and datastore for the recovery. Then configure the VM settings: Temporary Disable NICs to avoid conflicts, and choose whether to recover the VM to its original location or a different one.
Step 5. Veeam will mount the backup and power on the Exchange server VM. Confirm that the Exchange services start correctly.
Step 6. Use Quick Migration in Veeam or the hypervisor’s tool to transfer the VM from backup storage to production storage.
Efficient Instant Recovery and Quick Migration for VMware
While snapshots can also recover VMs instantly, relying on snapshots for this may lead to data loss, especially for Exchange, which is extremely sensitive to snapshots. Here is a software designed to keep your data safe - AOMEI Cyber Backup, which provides you with an easy, efficient, and free solution for VMware instant recovery. And after completing the instant recovery, you can migrate to production in a few simple steps. It allows you to centrally manage virtual machines, create backup plans, and perform instant recovery.
Follow the simple steps to set instant recovery
Step 1. In the AOMEI Cyber Backup web client, navigate to Backup Task to create a VMware backup for your VMs. In this process, you can schedule an automated backup for a VM recovery plan.
Step 2. Navigate to Task>Instant Recovery > + New Instant Recovery > Restore from task to configure the instant recovery.
Step 3. Click Select to choose the virtual machine and backup version.
Step 4. Choose the target device in Restore to.
Step 5. Then, set the hardware settings for the new virtual machine, such as the CPU quantity, CPU Cores, and memory size.
Step 6. Click Start Restore to start the instant restore.
Step 7. After creating VM instant recovery, you can click Start Migration to migrate the virtual machine back to the production environment.
🎈Tips: In Step 2, you can also choose to Restore from local path, but please note that the local image file can only be selected from the ESXi virtual machine JSON file.
Conclusion
Instant Recovery VMs can help minimize Exchange downtime, and using Instant Recovery in the right place ensures rapid service recovery. However, due to the nature of snapshots, they should only be used as a temporary solution, with the focus being on a quick migration to the production environment after Instant Recovery.
