Exchange Server and Windows Server 2008, Part II
Published Mar 05 2008 03:52 PM 9,194 Views

EDIT: This post was updated on 4/29/2008 to add more detail about the Exchange-aware backup on next version of SBS. In a previous blog post, we wrote about the various versions of Exchange Server and their support for Windows Server 2008. Now that Windows Server 2008 has released to manufacturing, we wanted to briefly discuss some specific issues that you might encounter as you deploy Windows Server 2008 in your environment, particularly if you're planning on running Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1 (SP1) on Windows Server 2008. Exchange 2007 SP1 is the only version of Exchange Server that is supported for installation on Windows Server 2008. Now that Windows Server 2008 has RTM'd, Exchange 2007 SP1 is fully supported on Windows Server 2008 in production environments. No other version of Exchange Server, including the released to manufacturing version of Exchange 2007, is supported on Windows Server 2008. As stated in the blog, Mission Impossible: In-Place Upgrading Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 from Windows Server 2003 to Wi..., you cannot upgrade the operating system in-place while Exchange 2007 (RTM or SP1) is installed. Thus, the only way to run Exchange 2007 on Windows 2008 is to do a fresh install of Windows 2008 and then install Exchange 2007 SP1. Windows Server 2008 Improvements that Benefit Exchange Windows Server 2008 includes a number of improvements and enhancements that can directly benefit servers running Exchange 2007 SP1. There are many benefits to running Exchange 2007 SP1 on Windows Server 2008. Just to name a few:

  • Support for multi-subnet failover clusters When running in a Windows Server 2008 failover cluster, Exchange 2007 SP1 includes support for geographically dispersed clusters for failover across two sub.... This support includes both Cluster Continuous Replication (CCR) environments and Single Copy Clusters (SCC).
  • Faster log file shipping Cluster Continuous Replication and Standby Continuous Replication are two forms of log shipping that use the Server Message Block (SMB) protocol to copy log files from a source storage group to a passive or target storage group. Windows Server 2008 includes SMB version 2, which provides a significant increase (around 30-40%) in SMB-based file copying throughput and performance.
  • Reduced downtime for hardware maintenance Windows Server 2008 enables a variety of core hardware components to be added, removed or replaced without requiring system downtime. These processes are often referred to as "hot add", "hot remove", "hot replace" because the system remains active and continues providing service and data access while the hardware maintenance is occurring. Dynamic hardware partitioning in Windows Server 2008 includes support for hot add and replacement of processors and memory, as well as hot pluggable PCI Express cards. Of course, support for this is available only with the appropriate hardware. If you're not sure if your hardware is capable of running Windows Server 2008, you can download the Microsoft Assessment and Planning tool to securely inventory your existing servers and generate a migration report for Windows Server 2008.
  • Near-zero downtime when fixing NTFS corruption In Windows Server 2003 and earlier, fixing NTFS corruption required taking the server offline to run the Chkdsk utility. The downtime associated with this process can be significant, particularly when the volume being checked is quite large. Windows Server 2008 includes a feature called self-healing NTFS, which attempts to correct corruptions of an NTFS file system while the system is online, and without requiring Chkdsk to be run. With self-healing NTFS, the file system is always available, NTFS corrects all detected problems while the system is running, and Chkdsk does not have to run in its exclusive mode except in extreme conditions.
  • Greater scalability for Client Access servers that provide Outlook Anywhere services Windows Server 2008 includes a Next Generation TCP/IP stack that removes the RPC Proxy Service TCP connection limits imposed by Windows Server 2003 and earlier versions of Windows. Specifically, the RPC Proxy Service, the Windows component that enables RPC over HTTP, now supports per-IP address connection-limits. Whereas the RPC Proxy Service in Windows Server 2003 supports a maximum of 65,535 connections, regardless of the number of IP addresses assigned to the server, the RPC Proxy Service in Windows Server 2008 supports a maximum of 65,535 connections per IP address.
  • Easier deployment Windows Server 2008 includes Exchange 2007 installation dependencies, such as Microsoft Management Console (MMC) 3.0, Windows PowerShell, and .NET Framework 2.0. As a result, you don't need to separately download these prerequisites in order to deploy Exchange 2007 SP1 on Windows Server 2008. Instead, you can quickly install them from the new Server Manager MMC console in Windows Server 2008, or install them from the command-line version of Server Manager.
  • Support for IPv6 Windows Server 2008 includes support for IPv6, and Exchange 2007 SP1 supports IPv6 on Windows Server 2008 when used in tandem with IPv4. For more information, see IPv6 Support in Exchange 2007 SP1.
For more information about the many other changes in Windows Server 2008, including several other changes which can benefit Exchange environments, see Changes in Functionality from Windows Server 2003 with SP1 to Windows Server 2008. Windows Server 2008 is an excellent platform for Exchange 2007 SP1, but if you're using, or planning to use, Windows Server 2008 as the operating system for your servers running Exchange 2007 SP1, please be aware of the following issues. In-Place Upgrade of Operating System As previously mentioned, you cannot perform an in-place upgrade from Windows 2003 to Windows 2008 when Exchange 2007 RTM or Exchange 2007 SP1 is installed. You must first uninstall Exchange, Windows PowerShell and other components (assuming the system is a standalone server and not clustered), and then upgrade the operating system, or you must perform a migration by using the Move-Mailbox functions or database portability to migrate from your existing server to a new server. Exchange-Aware Backups on Windows Server 2008 Unlike previous versions of Windows, Windows Server 2008 does not include a backup utility that supports the Exchange ESE streaming backup APIs. The Windows 2008 backup application, Windows Server Backup, cannot be used to take backups of Exchange. NOTE: For customers running the upcoming version of Windows Small Business Server 2008, Windows Server Backup will be able to take Exchange-aware backups. Exchange still includes the ESE streaming backup APIs, but the absence of an Exchange-aware backup application in Windows may come as a surprise to many. Another change we made that may also affect you is the removal of remote streaming backup support on Windows 2008. This leaves you with two choices for taking Exchange-aware online backups when running Exchange 2007 SP1 on Windows 2008:
  1. Move to a Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS)-based backup application. You can use Microsoft System Center Data Protection Manager (DPM) 2007 or a third-party backup application that supports Exchange-aware VSS-based backups of Exchange 2007 SP1 on Windows Server 2008. Windows Server Backup in Windows 2008 is a VSS-based backup application, but there are additional requirements for Exchange backups and restores beyond using the VSS Framework; for example, checking the database and log files for corruption during backups is not part of the VSS Framework and it is not performed by Windows Server Backup.
  2. Use a Third-Party application that supports ESE streaming backups using a local backup agent on the Exchange server. Because the ESE streaming APIs remain in Exchange 2007, you can still use them to backup Exchange. But to do that, you must use a third-party backup application that runs a local agent on the Exchange server so that the streaming backup is made locally, and not remotely. You cannot take remote streaming backups of Exchange 2007 SP1 on Windows 2008 with or without a third-party product. Any streaming backups that are performed must be performed locally on the Exchange server. An ESE streaming backup application that uses an "agent" locally on the Exchange server to remotely backup Exchange is considered a local streaming backup and not a remote streaming backup because the application's agent component is running locally on the Exchange server.
Read-Only Active Directory Servers Windows Server 2008 introduces the concept of read-only domain controllers (RODCs) and read-only global catalog servers (ROGCs). RODCs and ROGCs provide a way to deploy an Active Directory directory server more securely in locations that require fast and reliable authentication services but cannot ensure physical security for a writable domain controller. For more information about RODCs, see AD DS: Read-Only Domain Controllers. No version of Microsoft Exchange uses read-only domain controllers or read-only global catalog servers because all versions of Exchange require the ability to write configuration information to Active Directory. Microsoft Exchange works in environments that include read-only domain controllers or read-only global catalog servers, as long as there are writeable domain controllers available. Exchange 2007 effectively ignores read-only domain controllers and read-only global catalog servers, and Exchange 2007 requires a writable directory server in the Active Directory Site containing Exchange 2007 servers or users. Cross-Operating System Feature Support Some Exchange 2007 SP1 features require the same operating system in order to use them. For example, Standby Continuous Replication (SCR), a new type of log shipping in SP1 that can replicate data from a source to multiple targets, requires that the source and all targets run the same operating system. This means that you cannot have a source running Windows Server 2003 that replicates to a target running Windows Server 2008. Another example is management of cluster continuous replication environments and single copy clusters. Windows Server 2008 represents a clean break from the Cluster APIs included in earlier versions of Windows Server. Because the Cluster service does not allow you to use the cluster management tools for remote administration of failover clusters across different operating systems, you cannot use the Exchange management tools for remote administration of failover clusters across different operating systems. Meeting the Prerequisites Once you're ready to deploy Exchange 2007 SP1 on Windows Server 2008, you'll want to first make sure you've met all of the necessary pre-requisites. One important pre-requisite to keep in mind is the installation option for Windows Server 2008. I am referring to the "Server Core" installation option and the "Full" installation option for Windows Server 2008. Windows Installation Options and Exchange Server 2007 SP1 The Server Core installation option is a new for Windows Server 2008. A Server Core installation provides a minimal environment for running specific server roles that reduces the maintenance and management requirements and the attack surface for those server roles. To provide this minimal environment, a Server Core installation installs only the subset of the binaries that are required by the supported server roles. As you probably already know, Exchange 2007 is the first application that leverages and integrates with the Windows PowerShell. As you may also already know, much of Exchange 2007 is written in managed code that uses the .NET Framework. Neither Windows PowerShell, nor the .NET Framework can be installed on the Server Core version of Windows Server 2008. As a result, the Server Core version of Windows Server 2008 cannot be used to host Exchange 2007 SP1. Instead, you must use the Full Version installation option. After you've installed Windows Server 2008, you must install other prerequisites before you can install Exchange 2007 SP1. Instructions for installing these prerequisites can be found here. Known Incompatibilities One known Exchange-related incompatibility with Windows Server 2008 is the downloadable Messaging API Client and Collaboration Data Objects 1.2.1 package. Currently this tools package operates on Windows Server 2003 or Windows XP. We're working on validating these tools against Windows Server 2008 and expect to have an updated version released. Migrating to Windows Server 2008 Our official guidance and procedures for migrating Exchange 2007 from the Windows Server 2003 operating system to the Windows Server 2008 operating system can be found in this month's Exchange Server TechCenter Feature Article, Migrating Exchange 2007 on Windows Server 2003 to Exchange 2007 SP1 on Windows Server 2008. For More Information - Scott Schnoll

48 Comments
Not applicable
Hello,

So this means any MAPI dependent application such as a Blackberry Enterprise Server will not work against Exchange 2007 SP1 on Windows 2008, correct?

regards,
Larry
Not applicable
We spent 3 days troubleshooting Outlook anywhere on our new 2k8 server / exchange 2k7sp1 (with rollup6) installation.  
Finally today we gave up and called PSS.  According to them it turns out there is yet another bug with server 2k8 and Exchange 2k7.  something to do with ipv6.  a manual entry into our hosts file (to itself) is a work around for now...
reference SRX080305600851
Not applicable
I had a problem installing E2K7 SP1 on Server 2008 because I had disabled IPv6 on my network adapter.  AD Topology Service started, but with error, and other services would not start.  Enabling IPv6 fixed it.
Not applicable
Probably not the right place to ask, but are there any known issues with 2008 DC/GCs and Exchange Server 2003 SP2? We're about to start upgrading the AD infrastrucutre and I haven't yet seen anything saying E2K3SP2 and WS08 DCc/GCs are incompatible. Thank you!
Not applicable
There are issues with 2008 and Outlook Anywhere.

The problem is that Exchange by default uses the IPv6 address for lookups.  On a Windows 2008 server DSProxy binds port 6001 & 6002 to the IPv6 address but not 6004.

All three are bound to the IPv4 address though.  To solve the problem you need to add the NETBIOS and FQDN of the server to the hosts file pointing to the local IPv4 address.  That way when exchange tries to bind to 6004 is uses the IPv4 address and not the IPv6 address.
Not applicable
Can you guys please define what "remote" means in this statement: "You cannot take remote streaming backups of Exchange 2007 SP1 on Windows 2008 with or without a third-party product. Any streaming backups that are performed must be performed locally on the Exchange server. "

If we have a backup agent (BE, Networker, pick your flavor...) running on the server, which is then woken up for lack of better words and told to run a backup from the parent backup server, does this count as remote or local?

Thank you.
Not applicable
bday:

See this for the answer to your first question:  http://msexchangeteam.com/archive/2007/08/16/446709.aspx
Not applicable
dreller, thank you that was perfect. I missed or forgot that post. Thanks again. :)
Not applicable
Why remove the native NTBackup exchange functionality? That really sucks. We use it for our fail-safe backup tool. That thing NEVER fails on Exchange 2K3. I would have thought that you'd want the same streaming functionality. I mean VSS is good and all - but geez give us some choice will ya?!?!
Not applicable
TimH, I agree. DPM shows up as the new product on the block and suddenly the always-free and nearly always-successful NTBackup is gone. :(

I loved that little bugger, saved our butts so many times in the past when the normal backup system was having issues.
Not applicable
And +1 here on the NTBackup comments...

We have been using NTBackup since... was it Exchange 5.5? It was called something else back then...

For a smaller shop, how does it make sense that the built-in backup tool does not backup Exchange? I take it that there is no transaction log flush right now? Do you guys want us to have issues with full log drives? Sigh... Thanks...
Not applicable

REPLY EDITED on 3/13/08 to clarify point #1:

larry - at this time, the MAPI/CDO pack can not be installed on W2008 yet. If the application requires the MAPI/CDO pack be installed on an Exchange 2007 server (and that Exchange 2007 SP1 server is running on W2008), then this can not be done until we have

the updated CDO/MAPI package. If the application does not require the pack to be installed on the Exchange server, then it should not matter.


bday - We are not aware of any incompatibilities between W2008 DCs and Exchange 2003 (as long as DCs are not RODCs). There are some with Exchange 2000, as we mentioned here:



http://msexchangeteam.com/archive/2007/08/16/446709.aspx

Not applicable
"I loved that little bugger, saved our butts so many times in the past when the normal backup system was having issues."

Just wanted to add a ditto to this.  We use a 3rd party tool, but when we're having problems with said tool the build in functionality saved us countless times.  Odd isn't it that suddenly it's gone once DPM entered the scene.  Very aggravating, seems rather lame to put out a product like exch2007 and provide no base level built in backup ability.  Yet another brilliant move.
Not applicable
don't even get me started on the lack of backup tool.  I am running DPM but it is NOT a replacement for a periodic quick and dirty backup.  this REALLY sucks.  can someone address whether or not there are plans to bring back some basic backup functionality?  for those who want to hack it in, Karl Foley has blogged about doing so here: http://cs.thefoleyhouse.co.uk/blogs/karl/archive/2008/02/10/how-to-backup-exchange-2007-on-server-20...


equally as shocking and annoying is the bug that Stefan mentions above.  i came across his post here earlier tonight after banging my head against this for hours: http://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=2894199&SiteID=17

SERIOUSLY guys - how does this get through testing?  ipv6 HAS to be enabled for ex2007 to even work on win2008, and the implementation of it is broken right from the start.  how the heck did you guys test outlook anywhere without being aware of this?

i love and evangelize exchange, but sometimes these kinds of decisions and glaring bugs make it tough.
Not applicable
To migrate a 2007 on 2003 Server to 2008 it is possible to use the /Recover Switch on the new 2008 Server and move the Databases to the new Server?
Not applicable
Note that it is not the lack of support for Exchange in Windows Server Backup (WSB) that doesn't allow WSB to backup Exchange - instead it's a lack of proper VSS integration from Exchange. WSB in WS2008 is a normal VSS requestor like other VSS backup apps and does reliably take VSS backups with other apps and services running on WS2008 (such as AD). Making this work is certainly something that needs to be addressed from Exchange, not WSB (and the fact that VSS backups are supported with DPM shows that Exchange provides some extra capabilities for DPM). Also note that streaming backup is disabled by default in Exchange 2007 SP1 as it's not considered secure and needs to be enabled with a special registry hack: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa998870(EXCHG.80).aspx

The following statement in the blog could also lead to confusion: "Exchange 2007 effectively ignores read-only domain controllers and read-only global catalog servers, and Exchange 2007 requires a writable directory server in the Active Directory Site containing Exchange 2007 servers or users."
=> there is no concept of an AD site for users...  So this could be confused that computers used by Exchange users also need to have a writeable DC in their site, which is not the case.  A remote site ("branch office") with users that have a mailbox on a central Exchange Server in the datacenter, authenticate and work just fine with an RODC in the remote site. They don't need a writable DC to access their mail via Outlook or other clients. The writeable DCs are only required in the site that hosts the Exchange Servers.
Not applicable
So what will SBS customers do when the E2K7 & WS08 version is released? Is some kind of mini-DPM tossed into the package as well, or will they get a special NTBackup (or the reg-hacked version above) so they don't have to go and buy a 3rd party solution.
Not applicable
Could someone please clarify about E2K7 SP1?  


I cannot find E2K7 SP1 on MSDN site. I will be deploying into

production (2) E2K7/W2K8 servers in the not too distant future.


To install do I use E2K7 SP1 which is found here?

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=44C66AD6-F185-4A1D-A9AB-473C1188954C&


displaylang=en


thanks -e

Not applicable
Stive - nope, that is not supported as a migration step between two OSes. In order to run /recover, you need to be on the same server OS. Good idea though...

ehatem - yes that is it
Not applicable
For everyone that asked or commented on the subject:

We are looking into the issues around shipping special support for Exchange with Windows Server Backup (WSB).

We take this feedback seriously. Thank you!
Not applicable
Very very glad to hear that! We may bitch & moan a lot, but it means a lot at least to my own orgnization that you guys are will to take the verbal beating, listen, then go back and make the product better. :) This kind of access to product groups is nearly unheard of.
Not applicable
In regards to CCR geoclusters, how does WAN bandwidth limit storage group design?

I read or heard somewhere that CCR clusters in Windows 2003 had these limits:
1 GB link -> 200 GB Max SG
100 Mb link -> 100 GB Max SG
10 Mb link -> 10 GB Max SG
and it goes down drastaically from there.

SMB 2.0 is supposed to be 20-30% faster for CCR log shipping so do these numbers increase?
Not applicable
Congrats Microsoft...by removing the built in ability to back up the Exchange 2007 database in Server 2008 you have effectively killed three server upgrades/replacements I had sold three clients since Jan 1. A total of 3 Server 2008 licenses, 3 Exchange 2007 Standard licenses, 38 Server user CALs, 38 Exchange user CALs and 20 Terminal Server CALs...that's roughly $8500 in licensing fees you won't be collecting.

This is ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous. Removing a capability that is fundamental and that has been included for over 12 years for no good reason is unacceptable. Exchange is a fine product and I've been using it since the first release but there are other fine products as well.

I won't put up with this kind of behavior. Good luck to you folks.
Not applicable
I just wanted to add a link to my blog post on the Outlook Anywhere IPv6 bug with Exchange 2007 SP1 and Windows Server 2008: http://blog.aaronmarks.com/?p=65

Someone at Microsoft, please fix this as soon as possible!
Not applicable
I used the following command to install RPC over HTTP for Outlook Anywhere (running Exchange 2007 SP1 on Windows Server 2008):



ServerManagerCmd -i RPC-over-HTTP-proxy



But it created the /Rpc app in the Default Web Site. Is there a way to change this to another website? I have looked around and I must be missing something obvious.



The reason I want to move the /Rpc folder is that I have 2 websites on my exchange server: 1 for internal use with an internal self-signed cert and 1 for external use with a public digital cert (mail.example.com).



Any help would be greatly appreciated.



Thanks,

-Mike
Not applicable
I think we need an update on what the Exchange team is doing to add Exchange backup support to WSB.

"We are looking into the issues around shipping special support for Exchange with Windows Server Backup (WSB)."

It's been a month. Everything is RTM.

We have a single exchange 2007 SP1 server serving 25 organizations on 1 Windows 2008 server machine. They all use outlook anywhere and love it. I used to be able to back up exchange with a simple powershell script and ntbackup, and knew that it was a reliable backup - if disaster strikes. Now I'm having to go through some ass-backwards steps to back up a mailbox store; a freaking mailbox store, how hard can it be to have some forsight and build on what has worked well for you and your customers for more than a decade - the built in windows backup utility, by whatever name, that natively supported backing up ANY, and I do stress ANY, Microsoft product that just happened to be installed on the system.

You may have had to stop some services in the old days, but at least you could perform a reliable backup.
Not applicable
That's it I'm done.  Done with trying to even push Microsoft products anymore.  I've learned Server 2003 and Exchange very well so I decided to fire up a test domain with windows server 2008 and exchange 2007 on a host only virtual machine set up.  Good God what have you people done!  I have to learn a whole new design that is incredibly clunky and lame!  Mostly I'm talking about server 2008, but the install of Exchange 2007 SP1 was incredibly long and drawn out.  Completely unacceptable.  Makes installing Exchange 2003 look like a freaking cake walk.  Which in hindsight, it was! And not having a native Exchange aware backup tool is just incredibly stupid.  

That's it.  I'm out.  Done.  I'm using explorer on an xp64 box but I'm done with your server products.  
Not applicable
I'm at Ex.Connections this week in orlando, and the lack of WSB is a concern to a number of people i've talked to.  But the fact M$ have ditched a well known and universally used builtin, free, backup product from having exchange functionaliy for DPM which does was probably a product/marketing manager decision - but then again the RDP/RTM version of E12 was pretty much like developers run riot without business control has meant that  SP1 fixes alot, however lots of people don't have time to wait for SP1 of Win2008 - correction that's SP2 as Win2008 is already at SP1 ;)
Not applicable
What I kind more furiating is nobody on the SBS teams will answer exactly how the products will backup Exchange 2007. Is it a big secret? Are they afraid non-SBS customers will get made if SBS has an Exchange-aware WBS? Do they not want to alarm people they'll have to purchase DPM? C'mon people... stop letting sales people make decisions. :(
Not applicable
Maybe someone here can clarify how the whole backup stuff will work when exchange is running on hyper-v. I heard that Windows Server Backup can make "online" backups of .vhd files while they are running. Does this also include .vhd files running exchange 2007 sp1?

Thanks
Not applicable
bday,

Windows Server Backup WILL backup Exchange on next version of SBS. I have in fact just edited our main post above to call that out in that section of the post.

So - there IS a "in the box" way to backup Exchange on next version of SBS. I am not exactly sure of exact procedure at this point though if that is what you are asking - but WSB on next SBS is Exchange aware.
Not applicable
Thank you for clearing that up. Now you saw this next comment coming I'm sure ;), but who should we have our TAMs send the design change requests into to demand the functionality be put back into the non-SBS versions of Server 2008? Why suddenly after many happy years of NTBackup should we be held hostage by a 3rd party (including DPM) solution? Whoever made this decision should really come forth and lay their cards on the table... including those which say it was to pump $ into DPM.

I bet this horrible horrible decision to neuter WSB was made by someone who wears a tie daily. I love what you guys and gals have done with Exchange and do my best to speak much love for Exchange wherever/whenever I can, but c'mon... this sucks and you know it. :)Sorry for the repetative bitching.... thanks folks!
Not applicable
Once again, can someone tell me how I can backup exchange when running inside a VM on a hyper-v machine? As I understand, snapshoting of the exchange vhd works just fine for me, but why can't I backup the vhd? Isn't it the same procedure in the background?
Can someone help me please?
Not applicable
Any updates on the MAPI/CDO pack for Windows Server 2008?
Not applicable
I feel naked in the wind with a $5,000 (symantec backupexec) gun to my head with the current Windows Server 2008 backup solution.  I hope someone realizes that the price tag for Windows Server 2008 has hidden costs around backup.
Not applicable
Keep it up! 20-year customers are flocking to Linux. We never know when MS will deceive us next.

Way to make Exchange worthless.
Not applicable
I have to say as a Partner/Engineer/Sales person for Microsoft products that if Microsoft releases round 2 of Vista/W2K8/Exchange as poorly as round 1, everyone will abandon Microsoft for Apple/Linux.  After all, look at Windows Mobile, after so many years of junk, people are moving to the iPhone.  Now with Exchange support we are too, but if Microsoft kills the products again like round 1 and Apple puts out a good server, I'd move in a heart beat to their stuff (IE the iPhone) and I'd bet that have everything built in to the product like they do with CALs now.  

Now don't get me wrong, I have had many good years with Microsoft products and I make a good living supporting Microsoft products, but let's face it, Vista is/was a disaster and while Exchange has been better, it's only marginally better.  After all, installing a product out of the box without the ability to communicate to the outside world or being able to backup the server on the default install, that's just wrong...  Microsoft took to heart the complaints of security, but in the process killed their reputation.  After all, everyone I have ever talked to thinks that the Mac Vista commercials are right on when they point out all of the Downgrades to XP.  Since 2007 is a fork lift from 2003 and now another fork lift to 2008, I don't think many organizations will want to go through that again and now they will be downgrading again to 2003R2 and all of the Vista/Win2008 skus will really be XP/2003R2.

Just my 2 cents, but I think the mutany will begin if SQL 2008 has just as many problems and that will be the beginning of the end of Microsoft.  In the end, it won't be the AntiTrust lawsuits that destroy the giant, but bad product in the marketplace.
Not applicable
Would it be possible to backup Exchange 2007 SP1 running on Windows 2008 Server remotely to a machine running Windows 2003 Server installed with Exchange System Manager using the 2003 NTBACKUP utility?
Not applicable
To raClo, yes it would work but you need to edit the registry as mentioned by GuidoG.
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa998870(EXCHG.80).aspx
However, please take note that it will not be supported although it works fine. Use it at your own risk.

cheers
Not applicable
This whole thing is very disappointing.  I am about to see a potential client next week about an Exchange 2000-2007 migration but will be left in the position where I will have to recommend 2003 as the platform for Exchange 2007 and not 2008 and point out to the client that when this issue is resolved (!?) that there will be no upgrade to the newer OS but a full Exchange rebuild etc!

Does anyone know if its possible to backup from an Exchange 2000 server (I see 2003 should work above) but I doubt the client will want to pay for an Exchange 2003 license to upgrade their Exchange 2000 server just for an unsupported backup solution.?

I have a feeling that the client may make the decision not to go forwards with this at this time as I certainly won't be recommending DPM (another server etc) and third party backups cost significant in licensing etc and in my experince always create supportability issues etc! - not acceptable for a 120 user org...
Not applicable
Please bring back NTbackup, put some pressure on symantec to relicense it again. It WILL make alot of your customers happy, including me.
Not applicable
An explaination would also be nice as to why NTBackup was removed.  It's probably not the Exchange team's idea so I would happily post this on the team's blog that did make that call.  Even if Symantec yanked the license writing a new simple NTBackup program wouldn't be that difficult would it?  

From yet another customer not purchasing 2008 for our Exchange 07 rollout.  2003 + 2007 Exchange will do and this is a deal breaker for us.  Not to mention no system state only backups either, sigh.  
Not applicable
NTBackup has saved me and my users countless times.  I still use it to make disaster-recovery backups of my servers even though some of them run Backup Exec.  Why?  When push comes to shove, I KNOW that I can recover any server using a bare machine, a Win 2003 CD and the .BKF file.  Try that with Symantec if there was a real disaster (that also took out the Symantec Media server).

It is insane to actually REMOVE features, especially something so critical as backup.

Please bring back NTBackup!  DPM is NOT an answer.

Not applicable
We are having a panic attack about this over in ars. This is the fail safe software we use when all else fails and exchange needs to be backed up.  

Example: Say an Exchange aware backup failed and mail filled the disk array that held the stream. Normally we'd be able do a quick NT backup of the store files to write out to the disk array holding the database. Now with this lovely removal of exchange aware NTbackup we have to first move the stream data from the array to a secondary attached disk (after of course installing a secondary external scsi array) (even if we have one) and then run a backup on that then move the setup back. That more then doubles recovery time of the exchange server and adds DOWNTIME. Who's the rocket scientist who suggested it was worth it to drop this feature from development?
Not applicable
We are having a panic attack about this over in ars. This is the fail safe software we use when all else fails and exchange needs to be backed up.  

Example: Say an Exchange aware backup failed and mail filled the disk array that held the stream. Normally we'd be able do a quick NT backup of the store files to write out to the disk array holding the database. Now with this lovely removal of exchange aware NTbackup we have to first move the stream data from the array to a secondary attached disk (after of course installing a secondary external scsi array) (even if we have one) and then run a backup on that then move the setup back. That more then doubles recovery time of the exchange server and adds DOWNTIME. Who's the rocket scientist who suggested it was worth it to drop this feature from development?
Not applicable
I echo the comments about the lack of backup functionality on Ws2008. I run several environments and not having a free method to clear out the backup logs is totally unacceptable. I'm absolutely shocked this functionality was removed, and it is completely and utterly unacceptable. I can tell you, I won't be migrating to WS2008 until this critical issue is addressed.
Not applicable
Is there ANY update on when / if a native backup option will be made available for Exchange 2007 on Server 2008? I have lost business on this - not one client has agreed to upgrade to W2K8 or E2K7. One has moved to Lotus Notes (and dropped my company in the process), one has said to hell with it and moved to POP3 email provided by their ISP.

Exchange 2007 / Server 2008 ain't making the grade out here in the real world. The requirement to buy a 3rd party backup program is one of the main reasons.

COME ON MICROSOFT! GET IT TOGETHER! DON'T MAKE ME MOVE MY CLIENTS TO ANOTHER OPERATING SYSTEM / EMAIL APP!
Not applicable
Still Waiting Here and everyone else that has asked for the follow-up:

I still do not have a good date for you, but I will say that we did not change our mind on getting this out. The feedback we got on this blog serves as a great reminder as to why we need to deliver on this so thank you. As vague as that is - I wanted to end the radio silence by just saying that we did not forget about this. Probably not exactly what you are looking for but the best I can give you at this time! The story is pretty much the same as it was mentioned in this post:

http://msexchangeteam.com/archive/2008/06/18/449031.aspx
Version history
Last update:
‎Jul 01 2019 03:35 PM
Updated by: