Exchange Dial Tone Recovery in Version 2003/2007

In Exchange 2003, Microsoft introduced the concept of Dial Tone Recovery that helped to recover mailbox database without downtime. That is, the users will not have to wait for their mailboxes to be recovered and mounted on new Server to resume the e-mail communication. The Exchange dial tone recovery technique allows administrator to create a blank database on Server with mailboxes that can be used for sending and receiving emails. Once the mailboxes from the crashed database are recovered, both the databases can be merged.

Okay, so when the main job for Exchange Dial tone recovery, i.e. bringing users online is done, another one has to be started at the background which is restoring the lost database from the last updated backup. For this, a Recovery Database (known as Recovery Storage Group in Exchange 2003/2007) has to be created where the backup database has to be mounted.

Following Points Has to be Taken Into Consideration to Perform Exchange Dial Tone Recovery

1: A healthy copy of EDB and Log files should be available. If the database is available in the form of backup, it should be updated and healthy.

2: The restored database from backup should be checked for its consistency before mounting it to Recovery Database. The DB should be brought to clean shutdown state first before mounting.

3: Along with database files, log files should be available in healthy state. Plus, missing log file from the series causes recovery (log file replay) failure.

The next step is to switch the database location of the RDB and the Dial tone DB. After this, New-MailboxRepairRequest cmdlet will be processed against the RDB mounted on Server and the dial tone database will then be merged with the RDB on production server.

Note: The trick to swap database is involved so that less time is consumed in merging a small sized database to a large-sized DB.

Alternative for Exchange Dial Tone Recovery Technique :

However, in mailbox database crash scenario a simpler approach can be adopted to repair as well as  recover Exchange mailbox to live Exchange 2010/2013/2016. There are software applications i.e. SysTools Exchange Server Recovery Software that can help to move the crashed database (in the form of offline/dismounted or corrupt EDB) to live Exchange environment.

The Quick and Advance scan mode of this software recover as well as repair EDB file from corruption with no data loss. Depending on the level of corrupt offline/dismounted Exchange database file users can select the dual scan option to recover & repair Exchange mailbox and EDB file. The advance scanning option recovers hard deleted offline/dismounted Exchange mailboxes and items. You can use this option to recover deleted mailbox after retention period.

This utility easily extract mailbox from EDB File Exchange 2016/2013 to Live Exchange Server mailboxes, Office 365, and PST, EML, HTML, MBOX, PDF, MSG file format. It automatically creates the export report in CSV file format that saves the success and fail count of exported Exchange data.

With the available recovery manager for Exchange database software, a platform is offered to administrators where mailboxes from a crashed database can be recovered, extracted and exported to an active Exchange Server. Investment in the product will offer following advantages:

1: No need for backup and Exchange dial tone recovery.

2: Without log files the recovery would be possible. Even if log files are inconsistent or missing from series, recovery won’t be affected.

3: It is a one-step procedure, i.e. the step to switch database location and then merging them can be avoided. Just add EDB and move mailboxes to new Server.

Key Features Of Professional Software

1. Recover corrupted offline/dismounted Exchange database file
2. Option to remove encryption from Exchange mailbox in batch
3. Preview MS Exchange mailbox data items before conversion
4. Date Filter and Categories option to export Exchange mailbox items
5. Maintain original folder structure and keep metadata intact
6. Suitable with all Windows OS, Exchange Server and Microsoft Outlook versions

Conclusion:

Exchange Dial Tone recovery in 2007 Database has its own advantages. No investment has to be done and with complete backup system, it is possible to get back database into functional state. Nevertheless, the idea to recover exchange mailbox to live Exchange Server 2010/2013/2016 with third party solutions can be a great help to as it helps to avoid downtime and does not have dependency on backup and log files.