Chapter 20 -- Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server Maintenance and Troubleshooting

Chapter 20

About This Chapter

For its database repositories, Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server takes advantage of the Extensible Storage Engine (ESE). ESE is a very reliable, tried, and proven transaction-based database technology, which forms the foundation for Exchange 2000 Server's incredible scalability. If you install Exchange 2000 Server on a high-performance system equipped with an uninterruptible power supply (UPS), redundant arrays of independent disks (RAID), duplexed disk controllers, redundant network adapters, and dual processors, you can be confident that your messaging server is ready for thousands of users. In addition, you may consider a clustered environment for maximum system reliability.

Nevertheless, no technical system is perfect. There is no substitute for a correctly implemented disaster prevention and recovery plan. The best disaster prevention tactic is ongoing system maintenance. Exchange 2000 Server gives you a powerful set of features that make it easy to identify and solve most problems and bottlenecks without affecting the work of your users. The foundations of trustworthy disaster recovery policies, on the other hand, are reliable backups and proven restore procedures. It is vital to test recovery procedures periodically. A serious administrator is prepared for even the worst-case scenarios.

This chapter covers important maintenance features that can ease the task of system management. It also addresses backing up and restoring Exchange 2000 Server. This chapter includes in-depth explanations of how to recover information store databases in various situations.

Before You Begin

To complete this chapter:

• Prepare your test environment according to the descriptions given in the "Getting Started" section of "About This Book." If you have completed Chapter 19, "Implementing Advanced Security," there is no need to rebuild your environment.
• Be able to describe the architecture of Exchange 2000 Server and the responsibilities of core components, such as the Information Store service, as explained in Chapter 3, "Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server Architecture."
• Know how to use the Microsoft Windows 2000 Backup utility to back up files and system state information.
• Be familiar with the management of Exchange 2000 Server resources, such as storage groups and information stores, as outlined in Chapter 14, "Managing Server Configuration."