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File Sharing stops responding periodically
This server is used as a DC and file server. There are 150-200 users who work simultaneously. Some user mailboxes became too big and we (IT admins) suggested for them to create .pst files and move some e-mails there. Now we have 15-20 users with several big (1-10GB) .pst files. When for some reason Outlook is closed improperly these .pst files are broken. And when Outlook is started again it starts to repair them.
And here the problems start: All network shares stop responding for periods of 30-40 seconds and work for 20-30 seconds. All network activity slows down to nearly 0% for the periods of inactivity (I am still connected to it through remote desktops so TS works in these periods) and DC authentication also stops working. CPU and memory are not overloaded in these periods.
Is there any way to fix this behavior (change some settings) or this is a bug in MS servers? The server just takes a rest when working with big files. Or should I look for another file server - Linux/Samba for example?
And here the problems start: All network shares stop responding for periods of 30-40 seconds and work for 20-30 seconds. All network activity slows down to nearly 0% for the periods of inactivity (I am still connected to it through remote desktops so TS works in these periods) and DC authentication also stops working. CPU and memory are not overloaded in these periods.
Is there any way to fix this behavior (change some settings) or this is a bug in MS servers? The server just takes a rest when working with big files. Or should I look for another file server - Linux/Samba for example?
Windows Server 2003Microsoft Server OS
Last Comment
pdraganov
PSTs over 2GB also aren't supported; if they break, you're pretty much on your own.
ASKER
I have no SRV 2019, 2020, 2021, or 2022 events and the problem is only when .pst files are checked for problems. Yes, I know that it is not good to keep .pst files on a network drive but what is the sollution?
Users need to keep all e-mails and their mailboxes on Exchange server reach 5 to 10GB and more. Total mailbox stores reach 900GB and keeps growing. .pst files are on the file server to backup them regularly. Do you think Samba will perform better with these big files? We are also investigating some replacements of MS Exchange with solutions as Zimbra, which keep all e-mails in different files and only metadata is in a database but until then what can we do?
Users need to keep all e-mails and their mailboxes on Exchange server reach 5 to 10GB and more. Total mailbox stores reach 900GB and keeps growing. .pst files are on the file server to backup them regularly. Do you think Samba will perform better with these big files? We are also investigating some replacements of MS Exchange with solutions as Zimbra, which keep all e-mails in different files and only metadata is in a database but until then what can we do?
ASKER
There is no problem to repair 3GB pst with SCANPST - the problem at the moment is with the file server.
PST over 2Gb ARE supported in Outlook 2003. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/830336
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ASKER
Yes, unfortunately it's 900GB. We (IT admins) regularly speak with team leaders to stop forwarding big attachments but nobody listens... We backup mail stores once/3..4 days. Users are constantly adding data to these .pst files and it's practically impossible to backup data from workstations - this should be done manually file by file, user by user, workstation by workstation...
Consider enforcing mailbox sizes for your users. In that way they are forced to archive to local pst.
ASKER
It's still not a solution. They may need e-mails that are in local .pst files and they are not backed up. So if local hard disk fails they will lose their e-mails. We are trying to move old e-mails to .pst files on the file server and periodically to burn them on DVDs and move them to a folder which is not backed up anymore. This is hard to be done by sysadmins but there is no better solution...
http://blogs.technet.com/askperf/archive/2007/01/21/network-stored-pst-files-don-t-do-it.aspx