Creating and verifying daily backups is a critical step in successful disaster recovery. However, you can only recover valid data if the backup is valid. Failure to verify backups is one of the most common mistakes administrators make because they often assume that backup tapes are being swapped and that data is being backed up properly. Make it part of your daily routine to review all backup logs, and then follow up on any errors or inconsistencies.
Although the information store and directory can be backed up online, files in directories that are accessed by other services such as the directory synchronization component or Microsoft Mail Connector (AppleTalk) MTA, should be backed up when the respective service is not running. You can automate and schedule backups using the At.exe utility provided with Windows NT.
For more information about backups, see Chapter 4, "Maintaining Microsoft Exchange Server," and Microsoft Exchange Server Maintenance and Troubleshooting.