I have an Exchange 2010 server that I've backed up. I want to test my backup. Can I restore the stores to an isolated server for testing? I don't see how since Exchange is Active Directory integrated and all my mailboxes are AD accounts.
How can I restore a test backup without destroying my current Exchange 2010 server and mailboxes in production?
EDIT: I have another Server setup with 2008 R2. I will install Exchange, same version, SP level, etc. I only want to take my backup and restore it to that already existing test server.
Best Answer
You generally don't, because Exchange is pretty tightly integrated with Active Directory.
"Restoring" the whole system to a test site either means that it's not going to work, or it's going to run the risk of messing up whatever existing Active Directory forest you restore it into. (Or both. Probably both.)
What you should do, since you're only wanting to check the mail databases is to restore the mail database to the recovery database (RDB) on an existing Exchange 2010 server. The precise process varies based on what specific backup software you're using (which you haven't revealed), based on the fact that native Exchange server support for backups and restores (which are pretty basic and ought to be pretty simple actions) is rather poor, as is the existing Microsoft documentation.
Given that, here's a short guide on how to create a new recovery database, not from Microsoft. Using Exchange Management Shell, it's:
Assuming you don't have a way to take the database backup in the first place, here's a guide on how to do it for free, using Windows Backup Server.
I'm also going to link this guide, which has a basic run-down of how to actually use the RDB once you've populated it with your backup database.