Configuring Microsoft 365 User Mailbox Backup
Configuring Microsoft 365 Backup includes the backup of user mailboxes, ensuring that emails, contacts, calendar entries, and other important mailbox data are securely protected. This enables seamless recovery of individual user data in case of accidental deletion, data corruption, or other unforeseen events.
Check the 'Configuring Microsoft 365 User Mailbox Backup' video.
You can follow the below steps to configure Microsoft 365 User Mailbox Backup;
To configure backup for your Microsoft 365 domain, in the SaaS Application main menu navigate to Backup->Configure Backup->Microsoft 365->User Mailbox.
Step 1: Basic Job Details
Backup Job Name: Provide any proper name for your backup job.
Backup Repository: Select the backup repository type. You can choose either Block Storage or Object Storage.
Repository Name: Once selecting the repository type, use the drop-down list to select the repository for your backup job.
Immutable Backups (Only for Object Storage):
- You have the option to enable this feature by checking the box, which will secure your backups as immutable for a specific duration. The duration can be specified and you do it for up to 999 day(s). The duration set will be applied to this backup job, which you’ll configure in subsequent steps. When configuring other backup jobs, ensure to adjust the duration according to your needs.
- Immutable backup in the BDRSuite Backup Server is a backup strategy or system you can use where once the data is backed up, it cannot be edited, deleted, or tampered with until a predefined time period expires that can be set up as shown below in the image representation. This approach adds an extra layer of protection to the backup data, making it resistant to ransomware attacks, accidental or malicious changes
Job Description: Provide a job description for future reference.
Step 2: Organization Selection
Choose Organization for backup
You can choose the entire organization for backup. By using the drop-down list, choose the Microsoft 365 organization you wish to configure backup for.
Step 3: Microsoft 365 User Mailbox Backup Configuration
User Mailbox
User Mailbox Selection
Microsoft 365’s user mailbox can be backed up using the BDRSuite Backup Server. The user mailbox data will be backed up and stored on the chosen repository. While backing up the user mailbox data, if there is any connectivity issues or disturbances due to which the backup is interrupted then rather than initiating the backup process from the very beginning, the backup will resume from where it was left off thus enhancing the backup speed and thereby resulting in efficient resource utilization.
Note: BDRsuite for Microsoft 365 supports ‘Where it left off’ feature for User Mailbox Backup.
Example: If there are 30 files (say your mails) in the user mailbox configured in a backup job and while the backup process of 18th mail in your mailbox, an interruption occurs and when connection is reestablished, rather than getting started again from the very first mail in your mailbox, the backup will be resumed from the 18th mail.
1. Select Domain to configure backup: Choose the domain(s) from the drop-down list, you wish to configure backup for.
2. Choose User Selection Option: Select the users you wish to configure backup job, you have options like
Select All users – Choosing this option will select all the users in the domain.
Select Specific Users – choosing this option will list all the users in the domain. By default, all the users from the selected domain(s) are available for backup. You can choose only the specific users you wish to configure backup and deselect the remaining users.
If you have chosen Specific Users in the User Selection option for User Mailbox backup, then BDRSuite provides a filter option which lets you filter the mailbox based on the following;
- User Mailbox
- Shared Mailbox
- Resource Mailbox
- Archived Mailbox
Note: This feature is available starting from BDRSuite version 5.7.0, and the filter option will be accessible exclusively during the configuration of mailbox backup for newly added M365 organizations.
Select Users by Groups: Choosing this option will select the group users. Select the Group on the left pane to select the users in the group completely. You can also customize the users added to the group by clicking on the List Group Users button. Once you click on the List Group Users Button, all the users in the selected group will be listed, you can then select or deselect the users you wish to configure backup.
3. Select Data to Backup
Select the User Mailbox entities you wish to configure backup. You can either choose all the options or perform backup level granularity by choosing only the required entities. The supported entities in the user mailbox are as follows;
Mails – Selecting this option will backup all the Microsoft 365 mails . BDRSuite for Microsoft 365 also supports backup of “Permanently Deleted and Litigation Hold Folders”. If there are such folders in your mails then they can be added for backup if you select the Mail entity.
The permanently deleted folder and the litigation hold folders are in exclusion mode by default. To have these folder included in the backup, navigate to the Backup Tab -> Configure Backup Settings -> Backup Exclusions.
Click on edit and you will find the by default excluded folders. Click on the ‘x’ icon of the permanently deleted and the litigation hold folder to remove them from exclusion. Once you click on update, anytime you will configure a backup for mail, and in it there are permanently deleted and litigation folder available then they will also be backed up.
Note: Deduplication is supported for mails configured under the same backup job. You can check the percentage of space saved due to deduplication in the backup reports section. This will enhance the performance and reduce the size of backup job. A sample representation of the percentage of deduplication in a particular backup job is given below.
Deduplication is supported only for Mails.
Archive Mailbox – This option will let you choose the Archived mailbox only
Note: To backup the Archive Mailbox make sure the user has enabled In- place archival from the administrator end.
In case the In place Archival is not enabled, the normal mailbox is able to backup normally (When mails are chosen).
- OneDrive – Selecting this option will backup the OneDrive items only
- Calendar– Selecting this option will backup the calendar events only
- Contacts – Selecting this option will backup the contacts only
- Note: The shared mailbox do not require a license to backup. i.e. Shared mailbox backup is free in the BDRSuite for Microsoft 365.
BDRSuite Backup for Microsoft 365 currently does not support backup of deleted contacts, contact list items and shared files, recycle bin items of OneDrive.
User Mailbox Exclusion
This user mailbox exclusion options lets you perform exclusion.
- You can open a list of user mailboxes and their folders by using the dropdown menu in the respective ‘Excluded User Mailbox’ field. From there, you can select the ones you want to exclude from the backup process.
- You can open a list of mailboxes folders by using the dropdown menu in the respective ‘Excluded Mailbox Folders’ fields. From there, you can select the ones you want to exclude from the backup process.
- The OneDrive folders that you wish to excluded can be entered in the ‘Excluded OneDrive Folders’ field.
- The OneDrive Files Filter option lets you further filter the files based on inclusion and exclusion. In addition, you have the ability to filter based on file name or file size using the option placed alongside the other filter options. This allows for more precise control over the data you wish to exclude from the backup.
Step 4: Scheduling
Incremental scheduling
After the initial backup, the BDRSuite Backup Server backs up only the added and modified items for each schedule.
Backup Frequency: From the drop-down list, select the backup frequency you wish to choose for your backup schedule. The options are as follows
- Manually
- Every Few hours
- Daily
- Weekly
- Monthly
Backup start time: Select the time for the backup to start from the drop-down list.
Advanced Scheduling Settings
You can choose from the advanced scheduling settings given below;
Retry Attempts: If the backup is interrupted due to some reasons, the BDRSuite Backup Server retries the backup for the specified number of retry attempts. The wait time between each retry attempt can also be configured.
- Retry attempts on backup failure: Select the number of retry attempts from the drop-down list.
- Wait time before each retry attempt: Select the wait time for each retry attempt from the drop-down list.
Step 5: Settings
Compression
By default, all the backup data is compressed while storing in the backup repository. If disabled the original size of the backup data will be stored.
Retention
Enabling this option lets you specify the number of restore points you want to retain. If disabled, all restore points will be retained.
User Mailbox (Mail, Calendar & Contacts): From the drop-down list select the time to retain. You can choose either days, months or years.
- User Mailbox (OneDrive): You can select both the number of versions and number of days to retain the OneDrive items. The minimum retention is 5.
You can also configure deleted file retention for User mailbox (OneDrive), Group mailbox (OneDrive), SharePoints and Teams for upto 10 years
Advance Settings
E-Discovery
When this option is enabled, the item data of the selected entities will be indexed for e-Discovery. Disabling the option will prevent indexing.
Click the Toggle Button to enable indexing for the selected entities' data for e-Discovery.
Email Notification
The report email will be sent exclusively to the backup recipients. Backup-level email notifications prioritize these recipients over standard report email notifications.
Click the Toggle Button to enable backup job-level email notifications and enter the email recipients. You can also modify the global email notification settings if needed.
Step 6: Review
You can review the configurations before confirming the backup to run.
Note: Enable the ‘Run Immediately’ option if you wish to initiate a backup schedule despite the scheduled time.
Click on Save backup to proceed for the confirmation and click yes. Your backup is scheduled successfully.
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