Exchange 2007 is a very efficient messaging
system. However, as mailboxes and public folders are used, there is
always the possibility of the logical corruption of data contained
within the databases. It is important to implement a maintenance plan
and schedule to minimize the impact that database corruption will have
on the overall messaging system.
This
section focuses on tasks that should be performed regularly—on a daily,
weekly, monthly, and quarterly schedule. Besides ensuring optimum
health for an organization, following these best practices will have
the additional benefit of ensuring that administrators are well
informed about the status of their messaging environment.
Tip
Administrators
should thoroughly document the Exchange Server 2007 messaging
environment configuration and keep it up to date. In addition, a change
log should be implemented that is used to document changes and
maintenance procedures for the environment. This change log should be
meticulously maintained.
1. Daily Maintenance
Daily
maintenance routines require the most frequent attention of an Exchange
administrator. However, these tasks should not take a significant
amount of time to perform.
Verify the Online Backup
One
of the key differences between disaster and disaster recovery is the
ability for an organization to resort to backups of their environment
if the need arises. Considering the potential impact to an environment
if the data backed up is not recoverable, it is amazing to see how
often backup processes are ignored. Many organizations implement a “set
it and forget it” attitude, often relying on nontechnical
administrative personnel to simply “swap tapes” on a daily basis.
Whatever
method is used to back up an Exchange environment, daily confirmation
of the success of the task should be mandatory. Although the actual
verification process will vary based on the backup solution being
utilized, the general concept remains the same. Review the backup
program’s log file to determine whether the backup has successfully
completed. If there are errors reported or the backup job set does not
complete successfully, identify the cause of the error and take the
appropriate action to resolve the problem.
Some best practices to keep in mind when backing up an Exchange environment are as follows:
Include System State data to protect against system failure.
Keep
note of how long the backup process is taking to complete. This time
should match any service level agreements that might be in place.
Determine
the start and finish times of the backup process. Attempt to configure
the environment so that the backup process completes before the nightly
maintenance schedule begins.
Verify that transaction logs are successfully truncated upon completion of the backup.
Check Free Disk Space
All
volumes that Exchange Server 2007 resides on (Exchange system files,
databases, transaction logs, and so forth) should be checked on a daily
basis to ensure that ample free space is available. If the volume or
partition runs out of disk space, no more information can be written to
the disk, which causes Exchange to stop the Exchange services. This can
also result in lost data and the corruption of messaging databases.
Although
it is possible to perform this process manually, it is easily
overlooked when “hot” issues arise. As a best practice, administrators
can utilize Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM) or a third-party product
to alert administrators if free space dips below a certain threshold.
For
organizations without the resources to implement such products, the
process can be accomplished utilizing scripting technologies, with an
email or network alert being generated when the free space falls below
the designated threshold.
Review Message Queues
Message
queues should be checked daily to ensure that the mail flow in the
organization is not experiencing difficulties. The Queue Viewer in the
Exchange Management Console toolbox can be accomplished for this task.
If
messages are found stuck in the queue, administrators can utilize the
Message Tracking and Mail Flow Troubleshooter to determine the cause.
Check Event Viewer Logs
On Exchange Server 2007 servers, the application log within the Event Viewer should be reviewed daily for any Warning or Error
level messages. Although some error messages might lead directly to a
problem on the server, some might be symptomatic of other issues in the
environment. Either way, it is best to evaluate and resolve these
errors as soon as possible.
Filtering for these event types can assist with determining if any have occurred within the last 24 hours.
Alternatively,
if a systems or operational management solution (such as Microsoft
Operations Manager) is utilized, this process can be automated, with
email or network notifications sent as soon as the error is generated.
