APG Restores Deleted And Archived Mailboxes From Exchange Server

• Mar 04 , 2019
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APG Cash Drawer had hosted Outlook mailboxes of over 300 employees on Exchange Server, which were duly maintained with the necessary backups. The mailboxes of former employees were also maintained as archived data on the server.

APG Cash Drawer needed to restore and rebuild some of these archived mailboxes for gathering evidence to facilitate an investigation in line with a court discovery order. This needed mailbox data restoration — conversion of EDBs to extract the mailboxes as PSTs — from multiple backups on the Exchange server.

This was a cumbersome task, because mailbox database restoration natively needs a lot of time and space to mount the recovered databases, and it can only be done singly - one at a time.

Also, some employees – while leaving the organization – had deleted sections of their mailboxes, which were crucial with regard to this case. This posed a technical challenge, because the Recoverable Items folder (dumpster) in Exchange Server retains the data only for a limited duration, after which it is removed.

APG Cash Drawer tried out a few methods and software to restore and rebuild these archived mailboxes but without the desired outcomes, and therefore decided to go with Stellar Toolkit for Exchange.

Business Challenge

APG Cash Drawer faced 3 key challenges:

1. Restoration of archived mailboxes from multiple backup files
2. Restoration of deleted mailbox sections that were removed from the Recoverable Items folder (dumpster)
3. Maintaining mailbox data integrity to serve the intended purpose

Exchange Administrators make diligent efforts to maximize server performance. In this regard, it's crucial to restrict the EDB file size within the recommended limits, archive the older mailboxes, and take routine backup of the data.

And that's what the server management team at APG Cash Drawer had been practicing, so they had all the mailboxes (live and archived) available with the necessary backups. However, there were several mailboxes (mostly archived) that were distributed across multiple backup files due to size restrictions.

So, when the need to restore and rebuild the archived mailboxes arrived, it came as a challenge – due to the spread of mailbox data across multiple backups, inefficiency of native methods, and the need for maintaining the restored data integrity. Considering the situation, the APG team decided to explore a more specialized solution to address this problem.

Solution

APG's Exchange Administrator decided to take the software route for fulfilling this need. The primary need was to fully restore the specific archived mailboxes -including the deleted mailbox sections -as PSTs, and this had to be done in the shortest duration. Also, the software was expected to function with minimal assistance.

APG purchased the Stellar Toolkit for Exchange (Technician Edition) and used the Exchange mailbox recovery tool to extract the archived data as PSTs. This was done by opening the backup files (EDBs) in the software and accessing the archived mailboxes to get the data. Mailboxes can be exported via the Exchange interface but that takes up a lot of time, especially if the server is at its peak capacity.

Stellar Toolkit for Exchange expedited this mailbox restoration task by quickly scanning the database files. It allowed a preview of all mailbox items to help choose the items that needed to be extracted. The required mailbox data was then easily exported to readable PST files.

Execution Approach

The software-based mailbox recovery process involved the following steps:

1. Purchased and downloaded Exchange Recovery software
2. Opened the mailbox backup files (EDBs) via the software interface
3. Clicked the Quick Scan button.
4. The tool began file scanning to locate the archived mailboxes and deleted sections
5. After the scanning was completed, the tool displayed preview of the file
6. Verified the converted file components of the archived mailboxes
7. Clicked the Deleted Items folder to verify the components
8. Selected specific emails and deleted mailbox items to save them
9. Selected PST as the output format to save the converted file

Results

APG Cash Drawer restored all the archived mailboxes, with minimal monitoring and manual intervention. Also, the mailbox restoration and rebuilding process was completed within the defined timeframe. The Stellar Toolkit for Exchange also helped APG to restore the deleted emails that had been removed from the Recoverable Items folder.

Key Benefits

1. 100% mailbox restoration: All the archived mailboxes on Exchange were extracted as PSTs with data in original form, ready for the intended purpose.
2. Hassle-free restoration: Considering the mailbox data was spread across multiple backups, the toolkit performed the restoration task successfully and without any hiccups.
3. Quick and simple solution: The entire mailbox restoration process was completed in a few clicks, without the need for manual monitoring or assistance.

• Mar 04 , 2019
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STELLAR TOOLKIT FOR EXCHANGE

Restore Exchange Database

A 5-in-1 suite of specialized tools, highly recommended by MVPs and IT administrators, to repair corrupt EDB, extract mailboxes from backup, and convert Exchange database (EDB) mailboxes into PST file format.

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