You must back up two types of data ¾ user data and configuration data. Microsoft Exchange Server user data is stored in the public information store (Pub.edb) and the private information store (Priv.edb), personal folder (.pst) files, offline folder (.ost) files, personal address (.pab) books (PABs), and transaction logs. Microsoft Exchange Server configuration data is stored in the Microsoft Exchange Server directory (Dir.edb), the Windows NT registry, and in various subdirectories in the Microsoft Exchange Server installation path (and potentially in paths created after you run Performance Optimizer). Depending on the type of backup and restoration required, these data points must be considered in your procedures.
The Microsoft Exchange Server database files are located in the directories shown in the table below. Although the default path of the Exchsrvr directory is used in this table, you can change the location of the database files. To place the transaction logs on a separate physical disk from the information store and directory files, run Performance Optimizer. You can also reconfigure the paths for all database files by using the Database Paths property page for the server object.
| Data | Path Name |
| Private information store | Exchsrvr\Mdbdata\Priv.edb |
| Public information store | Exchsrvr\Mdbdata\Pub.edb |
| Directory | Exchsrvr\Dsadata\Dir.edb |
| Information store transaction logs | Exchsrvr\Mdbdata\*.log |