System and method for online backup and restore of MS exchange server
View Patent ↗A system, method and computer program product for backup and restore of MS Exchange server. The method for MS Exchange Server backup and restore comprises launching a system filter and applying logs; mounting a data base from files located in a virtual folder; moving the file data from the archive into the real folder while the MS Exchange Server remains open and the database being restored is mounted. The data is moved into the real folder from the archive by blocks. The database files of the MS Exchange Server are divided into data sets (i.e., blocks). For each block a special bit in its bitmap is marked to indicate, whether this block has been moved to the real folder or still remains in the archive (i.e., backup). When the blocks are moved, the updated blocks do not need to be transferred from the archive into the real folder. After the data blocks are moved into the real folder, the restored database is dismounted and the virtual folder is dismounted. The system filter is turned off and the database is mounted without employing the system filter.
1. A system for backup and restore of an MS Exchange server, the system comprising:
a non-transitory storage medium storing a file system and a file system driver for providing data exchange between the file system and server processes;
a file system filter coupled to the file system driver;
a data archive containing a backup of controlled and uncontrolled files and accessible by the file system filter, wherein the uncontrolled files are not subject to restoration when the MS Exchange server is restored;
a virtual folder that, to the file system, appears to contain controlled files and accessible by the file system filter, wherein the virtual folder contains only redirect links but no actual file data and interfaces to the file system through the file system filter and then through the file system driver; and
a real folder containing controlled files and accessible by the file system filter, wherein the controlled files are subject to restoration from the virtual folder on a block by block basis: the redirect links pointing to file data in the archive and to the real folder,
wherein the system filter redirects access requests to and from the virtual folder for creating the archive and recovering the real folder, such that the controlled files in the archive are accessible by the file system through the file system filter during the process of restoration and before all the controlled files are fully restored,
wherein, during the restoration process, log files of the MS Exchange server are first copied to a temporary storage having a different path than the non-transitory storage medium,
wherein contents of the virtual folder is used to mount the real folder during the process of restoration, and
wherein a database of the MS Exchange server is mounted in the virtual folder, and the database is brought to a consistent state by applying the log files to the database of the MS Exchange.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the controlled files include an MS Exchange Server database.
3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the controlled files are restorable server files.
4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the uncontrolled files are not restorable files that do not belong to the server.
5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the access requests are read and write requests.
6. A method for backup and restore of an MS Exchange Server, the method comprising:
launching a file system filter;
creating a virtual folder, wherein the virtual folder contains only redirect links but no actual file data and interfaces to the file system through the file system filter and then through a file system driver;
applying transaction logs to database files located in the virtual folder;
mounting the virtual folder with a database that appears to the MS Exchange Server as having the MS Exchange server files in a real folder, the redirect links pointing to file data in the archive and to the real folder;
moving the database files that are being restored from an archive on a block by block basis into the real folder, the real folder containing MS Exchange files that are restorable;
dismounting the database in the virtual folder;
dismounting the virtual folder; and
remounting the database in the real folder from the virtual folder,
wherein the file system filter redirects access requests to and from the virtual folder such that the controlled files in the archive are accessible by the file system through the file system filter during the process of mounting and restoration and before the MS Exchange Server files are fully restored, and
wherein, during the restoration process, the transaction logs are first copied to a temporary storage having a different path than the non-transitory storage medium, and the database is brought to a consistent state by applying the log files to the database of the MS Exchange.
7. A system comprising:
a processor;
a memory coupled to the processor; and
a computer code logic stored in the memory and executed on the processor for implementing the method of claim 6 .
8. The method of claim 6 , further comprising marking, in a bitmap, the blocks moved into the real folder, as part of the restoration process.
9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the marking comprises marking a special bit on the bitmap of the block to indicate that the block is moved to the real folder.