server died - please advise on best course of action
in [Microsoft Exchange]
|
Prev: Exchange 2007 users have full access to calendars
Next: Exchange 2007 Account naming Conventions - Console vs Powershell
From: Huey on 9 Mar 2010 11:53 Hi there, One of our exchange servers suffered a problem this morning and will not start. We're not sure what the problem is - it just hangs on the login screen. we suspect an underlying hardware fault but haven't had time to look at just yet. To complicate things our exchange guy is on vacation. The users are screaming and we need to get them back up and running ASAP. We're in the process of copying the edb and stm files off the failed server and plan to build up a new server to replace it. We were thinking of building up a server with exactly the same name. We can then copy the edb's onto this new server and hopefully they will mount straight up..... I was wondering if this sounds like the best course of action? The server was win2003/ exchange 2003. I'd appreciate any advice! Thanks, Huw
From: Mark Arnold [MVP] on 9 Mar 2010 13:29 Boot it into safe mode and work through the problem. Don't just come up with some kneejerk reaction. If there was a genuine need for the email your business would have funded the proper DR plan that you will amost certainly have asked for.
From: Leonid S. Knyshov // SBS Expert on 9 Mar 2010 16:17 On 3/9/2010 8:53 AM, Huey wrote: > Hi there, > > One of our exchange servers suffered a problem this morning and will not > start. We're not sure what the problem is - it just hangs on the login > screen. we suspect an underlying hardware fault but haven't had time to > look at just yet. To complicate things our exchange guy is on vacation. > > The users are screaming and we need to get them back up and running ASAP. > > We're in the process of copying the edb and stm files off the failed > server and plan to build up a new server to replace it. > > We were thinking of building up a server with exactly the same name. We > can then copy the edb's onto this new server and hopefully they will > mount straight up..... > > I was wondering if this sounds like the best course of action? > > The server was win2003/ exchange 2003. > > I'd appreciate any advice! > > Thanks, > > Huw Just because the server is hanging at login screen, doesn't mean it's dead... I had a situation where a server took over 50 minutes to come back to life after a reboot. Another reboot after that brought it back to normal. Does it respond to ping? Try this: Start -> Run -> Compmgmt.msc Right-click "Computer management" Choose "Connect to another computer" Enter your "dead" server's name. You will now have access to event viewer and services. It's easier to fix the old server as you may experience data loss due to uncommitted logs from your current Exchange server. You may want to open a ticket with Microsoft. It's cheaper than working with a consultant. I recommend doing an offline disk image of this server with something like Acronis Trueimage before doing anything else. The trial would be sufficient. -- Leonid S. Knyshov Crashproof Solutions 510-282-1008 Twitter: @wiseleo http://crashproofsolutions.com Microsoft Small Business Specialist Please vote "helpful" if I helped you :)
From: Huey on 10 Mar 2010 02:56
Leonid S. Knyshov // SBS Expert wrote: > On 3/9/2010 8:53 AM, Huey wrote: >> Hi there, >> >> One of our exchange servers suffered a problem this morning and will not >> start. We're not sure what the problem is - it just hangs on the login >> screen. we suspect an underlying hardware fault but haven't had time to >> look at just yet. To complicate things our exchange guy is on vacation. >> >> The users are screaming and we need to get them back up and running ASAP. >> >> We're in the process of copying the edb and stm files off the failed >> server and plan to build up a new server to replace it. >> >> We were thinking of building up a server with exactly the same name. We >> can then copy the edb's onto this new server and hopefully they will >> mount straight up..... >> >> I was wondering if this sounds like the best course of action? >> >> The server was win2003/ exchange 2003. >> >> I'd appreciate any advice! >> >> Thanks, >> >> Huw > > Just because the server is hanging at login screen, doesn't mean it's > dead... I had a situation where a server took over 50 minutes to come > back to life after a reboot. Another reboot after that brought it back > to normal. > > Does it respond to ping? > > Try this: > > Start -> Run -> Compmgmt.msc > Right-click "Computer management" > Choose "Connect to another computer" > Enter your "dead" server's name. > > You will now have access to event viewer and services. > > It's easier to fix the old server as you may experience data loss due to > uncommitted logs from your current Exchange server. > > You may want to open a ticket with Microsoft. It's cheaper than working > with a consultant. > > I recommend doing an offline disk image of this server with something > like Acronis Trueimage before doing anything else. The trial would be > sufficient. Thanks for your help with this. We took an image and managed to recover the server by reinstalling windows. -H |