Solving an Exchange Backup Problem

I recently upgraded to VERITAS Software's VERITAS Backup Exec 9.0 to take advantage of the version's new public-folder backup options. But since the upgrade, I can no longer successfully back up my Microsoft Exchange Server system. In fact, running an Exchange backup sometimes results in my Exchange server rebooting. Have you encountered this type of situation?

Yes, this type of server reboot is a known problem in Backup Exec 9.0. (Backup Exec 9.0 can also result in a reboot of Network Appliance's Network Attached Storage—NAS—servers if you aren't careful.) The first thing to do is to make sure that you've properly installed the Backup Exec 9.0 Remote Agent on the Exchange server. To make sure that the agent is installed properly, remove whichever agent is currently on the Exchange system (the Remote Agent from earlier Backup Exec versions is incompatible with Backup Exec 9.0). Then, reboot the system, delete the veritas directory (I'm assuming that Backup Exec isn't installed directly on your Exchange server; if it is, it shouldn't be), and install the Remote Agent that ships with Backup Exec 9.0.

Next, open the backup job that includes the Exchange server. Go to the job's backup selections and clear the Connect$ check box from the list of directories to be backed up on that server.