Priv1.edb keeps growing over 70Gb after a recovery a week ago

I don't know if this is the issue, but just a hunch of mine:

Did you run any backups on the information store? If not, your transaction logs probably never got deleted, and it may be that now the recovery has replayed or is replaying all those logs into your store, which could have bloated it.

Full backups will delete the transaction logs.

04.26.2008 at 10:08AM PDT, ID: 21446117

Rank: Master

Are you an open relay?

Can you verify on www.mxtoolbox.com and
www.intodns.com

please come back with info sow we can help you on this.

Thanks.

Richard

04.26.2008 at 10:30AM PDT, ID: 21446202

Thanks for your quick responses!! this is getting worse by the hour..
now priv1.edb is 75gb and priv1.stm is 4.6 Gb !!

I think the transaction logs have a lot to do with this. the Logs folder under the exchange databases are also taking 80GB in space (with 16,000 5mb files)

Probably this was caused by this:
when i finish doing eseutil /p then /d and the isinteg, i treid to mount databases and they failed, then I red that i had to move the Logs out, and when I did that then they mounted fine.

when I go to mxtoolbox it checks as NO open Relay here is intodns response:
http://www.intodns.com/ardourcapital.com

I am lucky that this server has 600 GB of HD space and i am not short of space.. but I am afrad the databases will start to unmount soon since they are over the 75gb SBS limit.

Thanks to both of you!
Ariel

04.26.2008 at 10:54AM PDT, ID: 21446290

When it has I finished expanding, make a full exchange backup which will delete the logs. After that you'll have to try to cleanout the exchange store of unnecessary and old data. You might have to ask the users to do this...

04.26.2008 at 11:09AM PDT, ID: 21446331

I think it has stable now at 80Gb. How do i do the full exchange backup?

REgarding the users, there mailbox are not that big. If I had their mailbox sizes it adds up to 30Gb only.

04.26.2008 at 11:10AM PDT, ID: 21446332

Rank: Master

First things first!

Do you use Virtual SMTP connector in Exchange and DNS Forwarder in your DNS server?
Is ardourcapital.com your email domain?
Make sure that your .. .local address isn't known on the outside! (192.168.0.20)

Man that report is bad! Your servername is on the Internet. For a while you can stop your virtual SMTP connector so no more mail will come in or out. Than you can start cleaning up without being interrupted with all these mail that drops in:-)

Try this first and let me know if you can do this.

04.26.2008 at 11:28AM PDT, ID: 21446397

Rank: Master

These are the basics of DNS. Verify if your DNS config looks like this:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/814591/en-us

Keep the local naming. That's correct.

IN this report you sent me were .local addresses. You must make sure that the only name servers, that are present in that report, are from your provider!

I see your MX records pointing at your external address. That's correct.

Maybe this will help also:
http://www.experts-exchange.com/SBS_Small_Business_Server/Q_21679904.html

Let me know ok?

04.26.2008 at 11:32AM PDT, ID: 21446416

Rank: Master

Are you sure, you're secure behind your firewall? Make sure that you are. Can you verify wich ports are open on your firewall with Shieldsup?

https://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?rh1dkyd2

You should pass! Maybe port 25 should be open ? Here is another link:
http://www.experts-exchange.com/OS/Microsoft_Operating_Systems/Server/SBS_Small_Business_Server/Q_21893967.html

Good luck!

Richard

04.26.2008 at 12:09PM PDT, ID: 21446552

What backup software are you using? If ntbackup, just backup your exchange information store, and this will create a full backup. If it is successful it'll delete the transaction logs when it has finished.

04.26.2008 at 03:38PM PDT, ID: 21447015

RIchar, I don't think it is a security or DNS issue. Eventough the settings might not be the ideal ones, I had this server running like this without a problem for years. All this started last Monday after the power failure.

Rindi, I use ntbackup. I am running a backup of the priv1.edb and .stm file now. But do you think that will reduce their file size ?

THere is no other command to run like eseutil ? with some parameters that will compress the file?

Now the files have grown to 90GB.. and the logs are the same size.

04.27.2008 at 02:00AM PDT, ID: 21448549

It won't reduce the size of the store, but it'll remove the transaction logs. After the backup try to cleanup the store and then run another full backup.

04.27.2008 at 08:31AM PDT, ID: 21449379

I run the backup it took like 14 hours.
The transaction logs are still there. now the logs amount to 107GB and the databases 96Gb!!

if I unmount the databases, cannot I just delete the logs??

any other ideas I can try before Monday morning? I can keep the databases offiline until then, but then after that I have only the nights to try other things.
thanks,
Ariel

04.27.2008 at 08:56AM PDT, ID: 21449472

If the logs are still there, the backup failed.

Deleting the logs will also remove any chance of recovery in case you have to use these tools again (eseutil and isinteg), as they recover the database from these logs. The idea is that if you have a successful full backup then the logs before the backup ran aren't needed again as you can recover the store from the backup. Only a full, succesful backup therefore deletes them, incremental or differential backups don't touch the logs.

Was exchange server running while backing up? I'm not sure, but probably if the exchange services are stopped while backing up the store, the logs might not be deleted either.

I've just checked the following link which explains how to backup exchange, and according to that the logs aren't deleted while exchange is offline:

http://www.petri.co.il/backup_exchange_2000_2003_with_ntbackup.htm

04.28.2008 at 03:23AM PDT, ID: 21452691

Rindi,
Exchange server was running while I runned ntbakcup. The NTbackup was a full backup of the 4 exchange database files. priv1 and pub1. when it finished it said it was succesful.

Now the database are 102GB and were unmounted by exchange because it is exceedeing the 75Gb limit! any way of rebuilding this from scratch? maybe exporting each mailbox?

If the database keeps unmounting all day it will be problematic.
Thanks,
Ariel
\

04.28.2008 at 11:42AM PDT, ID: 21456497

Did you backup the files or the exchange store? In the ntbackup selection you should see the exchange database listed as something like echange store. The files themselves you shouldn't backup.

04.28.2008 at 12:09PM PDT, ID: 21456710

I see. I did back up the files directly. Now I just started a new backup of the exchange store. The size is 99Gb for the priv1.edb and 4.7 Gb for the priv1.stm files. the Logs folder is 127 GB!
I hope this helps, because even if it removes the log folder how will i reduce the priv1 files?

Can I use exmerge maybe to export all mailboxes to pst then erase the priv1 store and recreate it by importing again alll these .psts ??

04.28.2008 at 12:17PM PDT, ID: 21456781

Exmerging the mailboxes may be a good option after the backup. Also, once you have cleaned the system up, make sure you regularly make backups.

04.29.2008 at 04:10PM PDT, ID: 21467008

I performed the backup and after it the logs were deleted. The priv1 files are still taking 105 Gb. i performed another eseutil /d last night after the backup but it only reduced them 4 Gb.

If I export all the mailboxes using exmerge, can I delete the store and create a new one afterwards and imoprt the .psts back? Will the Mailboxes get link to the users in AD?

THanks a lot
Ariel

04.29.2008 at 11:35PM PDT, ID: 21468513

Check the following Q, as it looks at similar issues:

http://www.experts-exchange.com/Software/Server_Software/Email_Servers/Exchange/Q_22756818.html

05.05.2008 at 06:58AM PDT, ID: 21500052

Thanks, i read that Q but still cannot fix my problem. The priv1.edb and .stm files have stabilized now in size but they are 106 Gb!
now the event 1221 shows this:

The database "First Storage Group\Mailbox Store (POWEREDGE-1420)" has 80001 megabytes of free space after online defragmentation has terminated.

still looking for a way to reduce the file size. any ideas?
thanks,
Ariel

05.05.2008 at 10:42AM PDT, ID: 21501613

I think you should ask the users to clean out whatever isn't necessary, Or maybe have the system run archiving tasks. I don't have much to do with Exchange server, so I don't know too much on how to prune the store.

05.05.2008 at 10:53AM PDT, ID: 21501687

The users mailboxes are not big. The total size of their mailboxes is just 25 GBs now.
I need to find a way of reducing those 80 GB that is just white space.

05.05.2008 at 11:24AM PDT, ID: 21501917

I've just read that you need to defrag the database while it is offline to get it's size reduced noticably.

05.05.2008 at 12:23PM PDT, ID: 21502313

Rank: Master