NetApp Single Mailbox Recovery 8.3: More Efficient and Secure
Manohar Kulkarni
In our continuing efforts to innovate, to simplify, and to enhance performance, we released NetApp® Single Mailbox Recovery (SMBR) 8.3 last month. The key enhancement in this release is that you can mount NetApp Snapshot™copies on SMBR; in previous versions, you had to mount them on the Microsoft Exchange host.
More Efficient, More Secure, and Less Dependent on Exchange Server
Many NetApp customers already use SMBR with NetApp FlexClone® thin-cloning technology to quickly recover selected emails. This approach is faster and more efficient than the traditional way to restore large databases, which consumes a lot of administrator time and resources.We wanted to further increase the efficiency and security that SMBR offers. However, in the earlier version of SMBR, during the recovery process, data files were mounted on the Exchange host. Because the SMBR tool is used primarily by level 1 help desk teams, this process raised some security concerns. And because multiple restores can affect performance on the Exchange host, efficiency was also a concern.
In this 8.3 release, we made logical changes in SMBR and in NetApp SnapCenter® software to reduce dependence on Exchange Server. This modification also simplified the SMBR workflow, changing the way that Exchange databases are mounted.
To take advantage of the SMBR 8.3 enhancements, you must take the following prerequisite steps:
- Add the SMBR host to SnapCenter Server and install the NetApp SnapCenter Plug-In for Microsoft Windows (4.3.1 P2 or later).
- Install Microsoft Outlook on the SMBR host.
- Create an initiator group of the SMBR host in the storage virtual machine (SVM).
- Establish a session between the SMBR host and the controller.
Even More Enhancements to NetApp Single Mailbox Recovery
SMBR 8.3 also includes other enhancements, such as:- Mailbox creation on Exchange Server 2016 and 2019
- FIPS compliance
- Support for Microsoft Messaging Application Program Interface (MAPI) over HTTP
For further details about the setup and deployment options, review the Single Mailbox Recovery 8.3 release notes (NetApp credentials required).
Manohar Kulkarni
Manohar Kulkarni is a Technical Marketing Engineer (TME) focusing on data protection of Microsoft applications on ONTAP storage systems at NetApp. Being in product management, he helps in product designing, strategizing, developing new ideas, and on a need basis providing consulting and sales assistance. He likes troubleshooting problems and coding to automate tasks to simplify day-to-day tasks.
