Role of (DPM) Data Protection Manager in Exchange Server

Do you know what is DPM? For what purpose it is used in Microsoft Exchange Server? What are the requirements it needs? In this article, we will try to find out all these queries and will discuss the role of DPM in MS Exchange Server. Let us explore about Data Protection Manager and its importance in MS Exchange Server. DPM stands for Data Protection Manager and as the name suggest that it is designed to provide the continuous data protection for Exchange server database. But it cannot protect the data by taking the backup at regular intervals.

However, it can also restore the data in case of any failure, therefore the users want that all the configurations are configured in a proper way for this. Therefore, in the following section, we are going to discuss what is DPM in Exchange server 2016, 2013 & 2010 and its functions with all the advantages.

Prerequisites to Configure Microsoft DPM For Exchange 2010

There are some requirements which should be satisfied before configuration and deployment of DPM for Exchange server database. Let us follow below-mentioned points:

• First of all, make sure the inbuilt ESEUTIL.EXE and ESE.DLL utilities are installed on Exchange server and also on DPM server as well.
• ESEUTIL and ESE must use the exact same version, if 64 bit is downloaded on Exchange server, then it is mandatory that 64-bit version of ESEUTIL and ESE must be installed on DPM server.
• In case, any update is required in ESEUTIL and ESE on Exchange, check if the update must be installed on both servers. However, users can search the ESEUTIL and ESE file at below mentioned subdirectories in Exchange server:
Location For Exchange 2016 server:
C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\V16\Bin
Location For Exchange 2013 Server:
C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\V15\Bin
Desired Location For Exchange 2010 server:
C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\V14\Bin


• Run the below FSUTIL command for creating the URL between ESEUTIL or DPM and Exchange Server:
  C:\program files\microsoft\dpm\bin\eseutil.exe
  C:\program files\microsoft\Exchange\bin\eseutil.exe


• The latest or upgraded version of Visual C++ Redistributable must be installed.
• For the protection of Exchange DAG nodes, it is required that DPM should be downloaded at a node and One DPM server can preserve only a single Node at a time.
• DPM can save active as well as a passive database of Exchange database protection.
• Must change the minimum frequency for synchronization in 15 minutes.

Benefits to Deploy the DPM with Exchange Server

There are a number of advantages, which can get after implementing the DPM with Exchange Server. Those are mentioned below such as:

• There is no need to have an advanced database server in DAG after deployment of DPM server.
• In the case of disaster, with DPM server the database can be restored easily.
• DPM server keeps the backup of Exchange for a long time as compared with 14 days native backup retention policy.
• DPM can provide a complete backup of all workloads such as Hypervisor, SQL Server, Exchange Server, File server, and more.

Procedure to Monitor MS Exchange Server with DPM

After installing and configuring the Data Protection Manager(DPM), it is necessary to set up alerts and also monitoring notifications to get information of Exchange server into users mailbox. There are certain steps to setup the notification in DPM server, which is discussed in below:

1. First, undergo the DPM Administrator Console, click on Monitoring. Then, choose the Actions and click Options.
2. Next, click on SMTP server and type the Server Name, Port Number, and the Email Address in which users want to receive the alerts and notifications.
3. Now, enter the username (previously entered email address for getting notification) and password in Authenticated SMTP Server.
4. After this, select the Send Test-Email and enter the desired email address in which a user need to get the alerts and then, click the OK button to have a test notification message.
5. For more details, click Options and then, Notifications. After this, choose the type of notifications that users want to receive, and inside the Recipient type each email address, whom to send the notification messages.
6. Now, again to test and check the hit Send Test-Email link/URL.

By performing these steps, now DPM recovers mailbox to an Exchange Server database in an appropriate way.

Exceptions For DPM Server

In above segment, we have discussed the role of DPM in Exchange Server and the deployment of DPM server. It would be very beneficial if the Exchange server is hosted in DAG and users do not want to become the server down for a short span of time. But, if users do not have a large Bussiness and then, they allow to keep the data continue in case of downtime within a month. Then, no need to invest a large amount of money after DPM configuration and management as well.

In the case of any disaster or failure, if the server goes down and users find out that the Exchange database got corrupted or damaged then, one can go for an alternate solution named as Exchange recovery. It can recover dismounted Exchange server mailboxes in a quick way. This utility has multiple advanced features that can help to accomplish the process in case of any failure. Moreover, it helps to restore the corrupted or deleted a database.

Conclusion

DPM (Data Protection Manager) server has offered to provide the specific protection for Windows environments namely SharePoint, Exchange Server, and SQL Server. However, to understand the role of DPM in Exchange server 2010/2013/2016. Hence, first, we have to know the prerequisites those are already described. Moreover, we have discussed the advantages and steps for monitoring the Exchange server 2013 with DPM in detail. Also, we have covered the trusted third party tool i.e. Exchange recovery that helps to restore the Exchange database in any type of disaster.