Windows Server Backup is not yet installed.

Start the Windows Server Backup tool by going to Start | All Programs | Accessories | System Tools | Windows Server Backup. More than likely, you’ll end up with a screen like this one that tells you the backup tool is not yet installed on your server.

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Click Add Features to add a new server feature

To add the Windows Server Backup bits to your Windows Server 2008 R2 server, open Server Manager, navigate to the Features item, and click the Add Features link.

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Add the backup tool

On the Select Features page, locate the Windows Server Backup Features option and select it. Although it’s not required, it’s also recommended that you install the Command-Line Tools so that you can script backup jobs if you like.

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Review your selections and click Install

When you get to the Confirm Installation Selections page, look over your selections and click the Install button to add the features.

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The backup tool has been installed.

At the end of the process, you will receive the results screen shown here.

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The Windows Server Backup window is mostly blank to start.

Now that Windows Server Backup is installed, when you restart the utility, you’ll be greeted with a screen like this one. At the top of the window, Windows Server Backup will tell you that there are no current backups configured, and all of the informational areas of the window will be blank since there is no detail to share until after an initial backup is run.

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Schedule a server backup

I’ll jump right into creating a backup schedule in order to schedule a regular backup of this Exchange Server database. To start the process, go to the Action menu and choose Backup Schedule.

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Backup Schedule Wizard Getting Started page

Starting the backup schedule kicks off a wizard that begins with a welcome screen that outlines what decisions you need to make. For the purposes of this tutorial, I’ll stick mostly with defaults.

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Choose what to back up

On the next page of the wizard, you’re asked to decide what you’d like to back up. You can choose to back up the entire server (this includes all data, applications, and system state), or you can choose to perform a custom backup, which allows you to make granular options about what to back up. You see in this figure that I’m performing a full server backup that will use 17.52 GB of space.

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Decide at what time(s) each day you'd like to run backups

Although the backup default is to run every day at 9:00 P.M., you can choose to run the backup at a different time or, if you need a shorter recovery period, can choose to run multiple backups each day. To add additional daily backups, select the button next to More Than Once A Day, specify the times you’d like, and click the Add button. After you make your choices, click the Next button.

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Where do you want to save backups?

With the “what” and the “when” out of the way, it’s time to consider the “where”; specifically, you need to make sure to back up your information to a location that can survive a server failure.

You can choose to back data up to a hard drive that you’ve dedicated to this purpose. Ideally, this would be a removable drive of some kind that you can store away from the server. If you can’t do this, you can back data up to an existing server volume, although you may take a performance hit and, if the server is lost in a disaster, recovery won’t be possible. The option that I prefer is to back data up to a volume on a separate server. In my case, this second server resides in a different building.

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Heed the warning

When you choose the remote location option, you’re told that each backup will overwrite previous backups and only the latest backup will be available. If you need multiple backups to be available, consider other backup options.

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Specify where the backup should be saved

When you choose the remote backup option, you need to specify where the backup should be saved. On this screen, you’ll note that backups are being written to a server named Backup and to a folder named MAIL3 on a share named Exchange10. In the Access Control section of the window, the Inherit option is selected, indicating that anyone who has access to the shared folder also has access to the backup file. As such, set carefully controlled share and NTFS permissions on the resource.

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Provide credentials for the remote backup location

For a remote share, you need to provide a user name and a password that has access to the backup destination.

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Review your backup selections

Finally, the confirmation page appears, providing you with an opportunity to review your backup selections. When you’re done, click the Finish button.

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Details about the next scheduled backup

When you get back to the backup console, you can click the View Details link under Next Backup to see details about your pending backup. This screen shows this detail window for the backup we just created.

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Backup Once options

If you’d like to kick off a manual backup before the next scheduled backup, go to Action | Backup Once. On the first page of the Backup Once Wizard, you’re asked how you want to run the backup. Do you want to use the same options you used for your scheduled backup, or do you want to choose different backup options?

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Backup summary page

The Backup Once Wizard provides you with a summary page. Click the Backup button to begin the backup process.

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Backup status page

During the backup process, this window will display on the screen so that you can watch backup progress.

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The backup is complete.

At the end of the process, you’ll see a final completion page.

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Restore process

Proof
How do you actually know that Exchange was appropriately backed up? That’s revealed during the restore process. Although I’m not covering restores here, I will share this screen; it shows that the Exchange application was backed up and that, specifically, the database on the server named MAIL3 was the one that was saved.

Summary
While suitable mostly for small organizations and those running pilots, the Windows Server Backup utility can be a great way to back up your Exchange 2010 server without having to invest more dollars in software.

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