Mailbox Storage Limitations

[resources]

I run a 250 user NT network. None of the users have limits on the size that their mailboxes. The managers here don't understand why we need to limit the size of the mailboxes. I have explained excessive backup times, information store limitations, corruption on file attachments, etc. I want to make recommendations and a presentation for email policy and enforcement for mailbox sizes. Can anyone help with this by providing good resources or recommendations. What how much space do you afford to your users? Please advise.

wilsonb@amsdirect.com

 

[N0ktar]

I allow 50MB per mailbox, I just tell users that's the limit on the server. Works for both sides.

 

[johnny99]

I think we have around 350 users on your exchange server and we also don't have a limit on mailboxes.
Our priv.edb is around 34 GB.
We don't have performance problems at all and also no problem with backup (except mailbox backups would never end if we even tried)

I have been thinking a lot about implementing a limit, but since I can't find the "right" size for us, and sinze we don't have any problems I don't want to implement it.

What I would think would happen in out installation is that if I need a general limit it would be around 250 MB.
We have less then 50 users over this limit and and most of them are higher management it wouldn't realy help. They would just ask for 250 MB for all users except them self.
So I could save 500 MB or something like that, and what would that help me :-(

Biggest mailbox a user has at the moment is around 1,3 GB and he doesn't have a performance problem.

/johnny

 

[RonenIL]

You will not fill any preformance problem if the server memory is big enogh
(1-2G.B)for your case, but a mailbox of 1.3GB is in a danger of crash. The Exchange server is not act as a D.B server (like Oracel or SQL) and at
that size of singel mailbox I wouldn't take the risk.

Ronen.

 

[Voetsek]

exchange 5.5 uses an access database type of file for storage...

 

[devastator]

Still there is no reason to have 1.3gb of mail................I make sure people clean out their sent items, deleted items and don't store anything in the mailbox that is an attachment. That is what their home directories are for and even those I have them clean on a regular basis.

It may sound strict but that is what they pay me for, my knowledge of maintaining and preventative maintenance of our Network.

Drew

P.S. I have set a limits for 100mb but that is never even reached, more like 10-25mb.

 

[pbxman]

200 user network - i have set:
Issue warning at 100MB
Prohibit Send at 150 MB
Prohibit Send and Receive at 200MB

Only 2 people have over 200MB boxes..the CEO and the President. figures, huh?

The rest call me when they get a warning and then that gives me the chance to go over how it all works with them.

People - this is what auto archiving is for!

For all the pack-rats out there who cant delete anything because they are afraid they will delete some all-too important porn pic of naked ladies shoveling a driveway or something - i auto-archive their mail and either keep it on their h: drive (personal server space), or burn it to a cd, and label it with the date it was burned or saved.

This allows them to keep their junk, and allows us to enforce our policies without "forcing" people to delete things they might need from 2 years ago.

It works like a charm, and not ONE person has ever needed to go back into the archive to retreive mail.

Packrats will be packrats until their husband/wife tells them that their garage isn't a warehouse.

...just my 2¢ pbxman
Systems Administrator

Please let Tek-Tips members know their posts were helpful.

 

[devastator]

Good point.........I forgot to add that in my statement above.

I have added personal folders for those "pack rats" as you say, that need to keep things. That way it is stored on their 20gb local drive.


Drew

 

[bigdg]

You need to take into consideration the amount of hard disk drive (HDD) space you have. Just because you have xxGB of storage space doesn't mean you should allow your users to consume it all.

I recommend only using half the HDD space available. That way if you need to do a defrag with ESEUTIL you'll have room to save a temp copy of the databases while the defrag ran. Plus all the other reasons you've mentioned above.

Sounds like your trying to do a professional job managing your server but not getting support from above. I recommend searching through Technet for Best Practices etc... to find some additional reasons why limits would be a sound a management practice.

If your business has needs for archiving due to records management requirements (legal or whatever) then I would start looking at some of the solutions offered in the other replies. Or perhaps archiving to a SAN.

Good Luck