svillardi
asked on
Exchange 2003 Offline Defrag Reclaims Small Amount of Space
Hi Experts,
I finally put email space limitations on our SBS 2003 server. Users deleted GBs of stuff... I personally created PST files for a handful of users, practically deleting their mailboxes.
I then did an offline database defrag, but only gained about 1 gb of space.
I exported the mailboxes to a TXT file and added them up. Around 20 gb. But the size of the DB is almost 60gb.
Being that this is an SBS2003 server, I cannot move the mailboxes to a different store.
How can I reclaim this space?
Thanks!!
I finally put email space limitations on our SBS 2003 server. Users deleted GBs of stuff... I personally created PST files for a handful of users, practically deleting their mailboxes.
I then did an offline database defrag, but only gained about 1 gb of space.
I exported the mailboxes to a TXT file and added them up. Around 20 gb. But the size of the DB is almost 60gb.
Being that this is an SBS2003 server, I cannot move the mailboxes to a different store.
How can I reclaim this space?
Thanks!!
Before you perform an offline defrag for Exchange, be sure that your logs are committed by running a backup of the Exchange database. Once a backup is complete, run an offline defrag and you should see reclaimed space.
ASKER
ahhhh..... so that might be the problem?
Should the DB end up being close to what the mailboxes add up to be?
Should the DB end up being close to what the mailboxes add up to be?
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Yes, the database should be close to the size of the mailboxes after the offline defrag completes. Of course when you perform the backup before the defrag, keep in mind that the backup size will be the database file plus the streaming file. Make sure you have enough space for the backup and also enough space to perform the offline defrag.
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Demazter is correct. Retention on the store is your problem - his article explains it all for you.
ASKER
2 questions:
If the mailbox has been "emptied out" via an archive to PST, does THAT show up immediately? The mailboxes actually are still there, just "empty"
and.....
If the mailboxes show as being MUCH smaller than they were, where is that extra space stored?
I'm thinking:
Set the deleted items to "0".
Back up Exchange
Offline Defrag
Remount
Mailbox space should = priv1.edb space ---- no?
If the mailbox has been "emptied out" via an archive to PST, does THAT show up immediately? The mailboxes actually are still there, just "empty"
and.....
If the mailboxes show as being MUCH smaller than they were, where is that extra space stored?
I'm thinking:
Set the deleted items to "0".
Back up Exchange
Offline Defrag
Remount
Mailbox space should = priv1.edb space ---- no?
All of the individual items that were deleted are still stored until the message retention period expires. This allows the outlook "Recover Deleted Items" to be used to undelete items even if the mailbox has been "emptied out"
The size of the mailbox is reported as the actual mailbox size (not including the deleted items) once you do the process you described, the store size should be approximately the total reported size of all the mailboxes.
The size of the mailbox is reported as the actual mailbox size (not including the deleted items) once you do the process you described, the store size should be approximately the total reported size of all the mailboxes.
I'm not 100% sure if you extract e-mails from mailboxes either using Outlook Archival/Moving to PST or EXMerge if delete retention plays a factor. I want to say it does not.
How often do you backup Exchange? If you rarely back it up and you have lots of message traffic, your logs will build quickly. I've enen encountered issues where certain attachment sizes cause logging to go through the roof even if attachment size policies are in place (a bug in Exchange 2003).
Either way, you should see space freeing up especially after a backup and offline defrag.
How often do you backup Exchange? If you rarely back it up and you have lots of message traffic, your logs will build quickly. I've enen encountered issues where certain attachment sizes cause logging to go through the roof even if attachment size policies are in place (a bug in Exchange 2003).
Either way, you should see space freeing up especially after a backup and offline defrag.
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ASKER
Well guys, I just changed the settings for the deleted items to "0". They were at 30!!!
Then I ran the cleanup agent, but it didn't clear any old deleted items, just reported that 0 mailboxes were deleted, 0 mailboxes retained....
Why don't I see anything about individual email items??
Then I ran the cleanup agent, but it didn't clear any old deleted items, just reported that 0 mailboxes were deleted, 0 mailboxes retained....
Why don't I see anything about individual email items??
Have you read Demazter's article yet?
ASKER
Yup...
"Depending on your deleted item retention period, this may take a long time to be seen as free space. If you are trying to alleviate an immediate problem, then you can speed this process up by setting the deleted item retention periods to 0. This will make any items that are deleted, permanently deleted rather than sent to the dumpster, where you can recover them with the tools, Recover Deleted Items option in the Deleted Items folder within Outlook."
And that's what I did. But the cleanup agent takes a sec to run but doesn't show any immediate return on deleted items.
"Depending on your deleted item retention period, this may take a long time to be seen as free space. If you are trying to alleviate an immediate problem, then you can speed this process up by setting the deleted item retention periods to 0. This will make any items that are deleted, permanently deleted rather than sent to the dumpster, where you can recover them with the tools, Recover Deleted Items option in the Deleted Items folder within Outlook."
And that's what I did. But the cleanup agent takes a sec to run but doesn't show any immediate return on deleted items.
The space won't be recovered until the information store maintenance task runs (usually overnight). I just checked and the cleanup agent doesn't do this. Sorry!
You can force the maintenance to run by. right click on the Mailbox store, click properties, on the database tab click customize to modify the schedule. You can then monitor the event logs to see when it has completed (can take several hours as it does an online defrag and various other tasks)
You can force the maintenance to run by. right click on the Mailbox store, click properties, on the database tab click customize to modify the schedule. You can then monitor the event logs to see when it has completed (can take several hours as it does an online defrag and various other tasks)
Or just run eseutil /d at this point.
ASKER
OK, I just changed the maintenance to kickoff at 6:00pm (local time).
Then later tonight, I will run the backup.
I'll let you guys know what happened. I sure hope I get a big return here, as my users practically SHOT me when I put the limits on them! :) If their database goes down again, because it reached it's physical limit (and it's close) then I will lose credibility on the need for the limits.
Then later tonight, I will run the backup.
I'll let you guys know what happened. I sure hope I get a big return here, as my users practically SHOT me when I put the limits on them! :) If their database goes down again, because it reached it's physical limit (and it's close) then I will lose credibility on the need for the limits.
ASKER
Excellent suggestions. Looks like I will have almost HALF my database of WHITE SPACE! Thanks guys!!