If you are restoring a database using an online backup (a backup created by Backup or another Exchange-aware backup application), note the name of the original storage group to which the original database belongs. You may need to use this name for the recovery storage group, according to the following criteria:
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If the original storage group does not exist on the server on which you are creating the recovery storage group, the recovery storage group must have the same name as the original storage group. For example, if you are creating the recovery storage group on a recovery server that has no other storage groups, the recovery storage group must have the same name as the original storage group.
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If the original storage group exists on the server on which you are creating the recovery storage group, the recovery storage group must have a different name. For example, if you are creating the recovery storage group on the server where the original database and storage group reside, the recovery storage group can have any name (other than the names that have already been used).
At the beginning of a restore operation, the Exchange online backup API verifies that a storage group exists on the target server with the same name as the storage group in the backup set. If this is not the case, Backup reports the following error:
The specified computer is not a Microsoft Exchange server or
its Microsoft Exchange services are not started.
Other backup agents may report different errors.
Existing backup agents work transparently with recovery storage groups. The API functions as if the restore operation is done to the storage group that matches the name in the backup set. However, restoration is actually redirected to the recovery storage group.
If a storage group with a name that matches the name in the backup set already exists on the server, the following error appears when you try to name the recovery storage group:
The object Storage Group Name already exists.
Enter a unique directory name for this object.
If this error happens, give the recovery storage group a different name. There are no further name restrictions.