Cisco Unity

Document ID: 99325

PDF Downloads Exchange Backup Size Increased after the Upgrade to Cisco Unity 4.0

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Introduction

This document describes how to overcome the increasing size of the backup from Microsoft Exchange files due to the Cisco Search Folders, which are included in Cisco Unity 4.0 and later in order to increase the speed of Telephone User Interface (TUI) access. The search folders use pointers to the subscribers inboxes in order to reflect the relevant voicemail, e-mail and receipts. The use of the search folder only slightly increases the size of the mail store since the pointers reference the mailboxes.

Prerequisites

Requirements

Cisco recommends that you have knowledge of these topics:

• Cisco Unity 4.x and later

• Microsoft Exchange Server

Components Used

The information in this document is based on these software and hardware versions:

• Cisco Unity 4.0

• Microsoft Exchange Server 2000

• Veritas Backup

The information in this document was created from the devices in a specific lab environment. All of the devices used in this document started with a cleared (default) configuration. If your network is live, make sure that you understand the potential impact of any command.

Conventions

Refer to Cisco Technical Tips Conventions for more information on document conventions.

Background Information

From Cisco Unity 4.0.4 and later, Cisco Unity has started to use Exchange Search folders in order to increase the speed of Telephone User Interface (TUI) access based on the flex stack options. These search folders use pointers to the subscribers inboxes, and the use of the search folder only slightly increases the size of the mail store.

Problem

The issue is the increase in size of backup made by Veritas from the Microsoft Exchange Mailboxes folder on the Exchange partner server due to Cisco Search Folders.

The default parameters with Veritas Backup exec can be used in order to backup a Cisco Unity server and its message store. With Cisco Unity 4.0(4) and later due to the Cisco search folders you can see a double to triple size increase of the size of the backup file set. This is due to nature of backup exec since it does not by default backup the pointers, but it backups up the actual message.

For example, a subscriber receives a voicemail in the inbox. The Cisco Search Folder builds a pointer for this new voice mail message. If you were to then backup the system with Veritas, this voicemail, if it was 1 megabyte (MB), can be backed up twice, in the inbox and the Cisco Search Folder, and now the backup is 2 MB.

Solution

The problem of this increase in backup can be reduced if you enable a single instance of the backup for messages with an attachment.

Enable a Single Instance of Backup

You must configure this on the backup jobs in order to force the back exec to only backup the pointers instead of the actual file. Complete these steps:

1. Within Backup Exec Manager, choose Tools > Options.

2. Choose Exchange and click Enable Single Instance Backup for message attachments.

   If you run future backups with this option set, it produces the expected backup file set size.

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