'Impossible' to Retrieve Data from Backup Tapes of Old Environments?

Another “impossible” data challenge solved by Ontrack.

The Challenge: Extracting Exchange Mailbox Data from an Old Environment

A customer required Exchange mailbox data from a legacy IT environment for an internal investigation. The data had been backed up using DELL EMC Legato Networker, which had since reached end-of-life (EOL) status. Additionally, Symantec Enterprise Vault (SEV) had been used for archiving.

Efforts to rebuild the legacy system in order to restore the data consumed considerable time and money but ultimately failed to deliver results.

The Solution: Restoring Data Without Rebuilding the Legacy Environment

Ontrack’s expertise was sought to resolve the challenge. After conducting a quick proof of concept, Ontrack successfully restored the required Exchange Databases (EDBs) using its self-developed COSINE tools, eliminating the need to rebuild the legacy environment.

However, retrieving older emails stored in SEV files presented a greater challenge:

The existing self-developed tools were designed for the SEV storage model used prior to the Single Instance Storage (SIS) improvement and were no longer compatible.

Consultation with Veritas and TransVault confirmed that the required SEV databases were absent from the backup tapes.

In response, the customer requested Ontrack to investigate whether a custom solution could be developed to extract email messages from the restored SEV files.

Ontrack’s Tailored Approach

The Ontrack R&D team embraced the "Just-in-Time" (JIT) challenge with determination and a strict six-week timeline. Their task involved:

Developing new tooling to extract SEV files from the backup tapes.
Creating a database to reconstruct and organize the extracted components.
Extracting emails and attachments from the SEV files in TXT format.

The Outcome: “Impossible” Data Recovery Achieved

Thanks to Ontrack’s cutting-edge tools and expertise:

The SEV files were successfully restored, and all requested data was extracted.

The customer utilized Ontrack PowerControls for Exchange to generate mailbox listings for over 20,000 mailboxes across 175 EDBs.

Investigators swiftly extracted custodial mailboxes to PST files, while TXT-format emails and attachments from the SEV files provided additional evidence.

Result: Another “impossible” data recovery challenge was solved, leaving the customer thoroughly satisfied.

More about:

Ontrack backup tape services

Share Print Page