The Exchange Database Agent provides complete protection of entire Exchange databases for disaster recovery. The Exchange Database Agent backs up:
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Exchange databases
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Public folder stores that contain data of the public folders
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Transaction logs
In the event of a serious system failure, such as the breakdown of hardware, software, or operating system, the Exchange Database Agent provides point-in-time recovery of a given database. This ensures that the state of the Exchange database as it existed at the time that it was backed up is ready for use whenever necessary.
Database Availability Groups (DAG)
With the Exchange Database Agent, you can create a single DAG client to manage complex DAG architecture. Through the DAG client, you can set up a single set of policies and operations and administer it through a single CommCell Console. If your DAG architecture is distributed geographically, you can back up data at each site to avoid increasing traffic on your Wide Area Network (WAN), but have the ability to restore from any site.
Commvault supports DAGs without a cluster administrative access point for Exchange 2013 SP1 or later. This is a DAG configuration that does not require an IP address nor does it use a Cluster Name Object (CNO) or network name resource. In addition, the cluster information is not recorded in the DNS. For more information, see the Microsoft TechNet article "Managing database availability groups", https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd298065(v=exchg.150).aspx.
IntelliSnap
With IntelliSnap, you can create a point-in-time snapshot by quiescing the data temporarily, taking a snapshot, and then resuming live operations. IntelliSnap backups work in conjunction with hardware snapshot engines.
Offline Database Recovery
You can recover mail messages, attachments, and other mailbox entities from an offline copy of the Exchange database. Recovering data offline is useful in environments where the Exchange server is under a significant load. When users have access to an offline copy of the Exchange database to retrieve their data, performance on the Exchange server is not reduced as it might be if users retrieved their data from the server directly.
Combine the Exchange Database Agent with Other Exchange Agents
If you do not require end-user access to protected mailboxes, the Exchange Database Agent can be used alone. However, if you want to use back up and recovery options that are available for mailboxes and public folders, you can combine the Exchange Database Agent with other Exchange agents. In addition, you can backup and recover individual messages. Added options for Outlook integration, deduplication, content indexing, and advanced reporting help ensure that all your Exchange data is traceable and retrievable whenever the need arises.
Granular Protection of Messages and Mailbox Items
The Exchange mailbox agents back up individual mailboxes so that you can retrieve individual mailbox data, such as messages and attachments, that might have been lost from a user's Microsoft Outlook mailbox. By backing up mailboxes regularly, you can restore entire mailboxes without restoring the Exchange database.
Granular Public Folder Protection of Shared Information
The Exchange Public Folder Agent and the Exchange Public Folder Archiver Agent back up public folders so that you can retrieve shared data between Exchange users, such as group documents, messages, attachments, and calendars. By backing up mailboxes regularly, you can restore any number of public folders without restoring the Exchange database.
Retain Messages While Reducing Storage
In addition to protecting mailboxes and messages, Exchange archiving agents move messages that meet specific criteria to secondary storage. Archiving messages means that more space is available on primary storage, but users can still access archived messages.