How to run an offline defragmentation in E2k

If your Database has shut down after reaching the 16GB limit, and you are using Exchange 2000, you can obtain a fix from PSS to temporarily extend this limit

813051 How to Temporarily Increase the Exchange 2000 16-Gigabyte Database Size
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=813051

or

KBLink:824282.KB.[LN]: September 2003 Exchange 2000 Server Post-Service
Pack 3 Rollup


or follow the steps below (part B followed by Part A). If you have not shut down and want to reclaim free space in your database, this can be followed as well, just omit any parts that pertain to the database shutting down

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PART A. Preliminary

To maximize the amount of free space you will reclaim, follow the steps below prior to the defragmentation:

a. Set deleted items retention to 0. This can be found by going to the properties of the mailbox store and the Limits tab "Keep deleted items for"
b. Have users delete old items, empty their deleted items and/or move items to a pst file
c. A cycle of online maintenance needs to be run following these deletions. On the properties of your Mailbox Store on the Database tab, hit the Customize button on Maintenance Interval and set to always (extend the green bar all the way)
d. When online maintenance has started (it may take 30 minutes to start) and finished you will see these informational events in your Application log in Event Viewer.


Event ID: 700

Source: ESE

Type: Information

Category: Online Defragmentation

Description: MSExchangeIS (170) Online Defragmentation is beginning a full pass on database 'C:\exchsrvr\mdbdata\priv1.edb'.


The defrag may take several hours to complete and upon complete will log the following in the application log:


Event ID: 701

Source: ESE

Type: Information

Category: Online Defragmentation

Description: MSExchangeIS (170) Online Defragmentation has completed a full pass on database 'C:\exchsrvr\mdbdata\priv1.edb'.

e. When this completes run an offline defragmentation to free up space in the database.

PART B. TO RUN THE DEFRAGMENTATION:
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1. Run an offline defragmentation. This will take run at about 2-5GB per hour, depending on hardware. An offline defragmentation has certain disk space requirements. You will need disk space equal to your database size plus and additional 10 percent. For example, if your database is 16GB, you will need an additional 16GB of space plus an additional 10 percent (1.6GB) to run. For example if your database is 20GB you would need an additional 20GB of space for the temp database + 2GB or 10 percent.

If disk space is at a premium, the temporary database created during the defrag can be redirected to a drive with more space or a network drive. The following 3 Scenarios describe the different options.

Scenario A.

If you have the disk space requirements, to run an offline defragmentation, go to a command prompt and change to your Exchsrvr\bin folder. The syntax would be

Eseutil /d <database path>

Eseutil /d ôc:\program files\exchsrvr\mdbdata\priv1.edbö


Repeat the steps for the public database (pub1.edb file)

*****Note the priv1.stm and pub1.stm files do NOT need to be defragmented******

*Database path needs to be in quotes if located in ôprogram files\exchsrvr\mdbdataö if path is exchsrvr\mdbdata the path does not need quotes.


Scenario B.

If because of disk space, you need to redirect the temp database to another drive on the same server use the syntax below. In this example, a folder created for the temp database on the F drive is called Defrag the syntax would be

Eseutil /d ôc:\program files\exchsrvr\mdbdata\priv1.edbö /tF:\defrag\tempdfrg.edb



Or


Scenario C.

To redirect the temp database to a mapped network drive the following syntax would be used



For example we mapped a drive Z to a folder called Defrag on a network share

Eseutil /d <path> /tz:\tempdfrg.edb


Eseutil /d c:\exchsrvr\mdbdata\priv1.edb /tz:\tempdfrg.edb

***when redirecting the temp database to a network drive the defrag will take significantly longer*****





More Information


A permanent resolution to reaching the 16GB limit would be to upgrade, if possible, to Exchange Enterprise Edition which has an unlimited database size. For more information see the following KB article

170280 XADM: Upgrading From Exchange Server Standard Edition to the Enterprise
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=170280


If upgrading to Enterprise Edition is not an option, you may want to implement mailbox limits to help prevent the database from getting too large. This can be implemented on the entire mailbox store. Individual limits can be set on a per mailbox basis if you have executive mailboxes that require higher storage limits. For more information, see the following KB article

319583 HOW TO: Configure Storage Limits on Mailboxes in Exchange 2000
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=319583