All, Have set up new exch server, joined to existing site and moved a couple of mailboxes across. All seems well in sending recieving etc BUT the 2 mailboxes together were sized at 140meg on old server but priv.edb on new server is 280meg. Why would this be so?? anything I can do about it as I have to move 12gig of mailboxes!
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Moving Exchange
- Thread starter Trinak
- Start date
brontosaurus
MIS
because that server is "fresh", you lost single instance storage when you moved those mailboxes....
Maybe a little cleanup prior to moving?
Maybe a little cleanup prior to moving?
- Thread starter
- #3
brontosaurus
MIS
briefly, single instance storage is a method the exchange server uses to "file" messages. any emails sent by a user to other users on the same server is actually only stored in one location, and each mailbox that received the message will have a pointer to that location. obviously, this saves alot of disk space...
To clean mailboxes you can do a couple of things...there's a "Clean Mailbox" tool in exchange admin under the Tools heading, or you can install the Microsoft Exchange Mailbox Manager, which is more robust and will allow more "fine tuning" when it comes to deciding what should be cleaned.
To clean mailboxes you can do a couple of things...there's a "Clean Mailbox" tool in exchange admin under the Tools heading, or you can install the Microsoft Exchange Mailbox Manager, which is more robust and will allow more "fine tuning" when it comes to deciding what should be cleaned.
- Thread starter
- #5
Thx again B..., Got the concept. What would happen if I moved another mailbox to new server which would have a message that already exists in either of the 2 existing mailboxes? Would a single instance be created automatically on new server or would there be 2 stored in priv.edb?
Thought: can i check an instance ratio measurment with the 2 existing mailboxes as I know they would contain messages that both recieved. Ratio should be more than 1?? Where can i find Mailbox Manager??
Thought: can i check an instance ratio measurment with the 2 existing mailboxes as I know they would contain messages that both recieved. Ratio should be more than 1?? Where can i find Mailbox Manager??
brontosaurus
MIS
that's a good question...i don't think you'd get any single instance storage unless the mailbox and message existed prior to the move, but I could be wrong...so yes, try a couple more moves and check the ratio's, I'd love to know what you find...
as for mailbox manager, I believe you can find it in both SP3 and SP4, several directories down under "support"....
as for mailbox manager, I believe you can find it in both SP3 and SP4, several directories down under "support"....
- Thread starter
- #7
- Thread starter
- #8
Your best course of action to retain single instance storage, is to us the procedure to replace old hardware with new. This is outlined in TechNet article 155216, but I'll outline the steps below:
This must be done when you can have e-mail unavailable for about 4 hours.
Move the mailboxes back to the original server and remove the server from the site.
First, ensure you have a current backup of the existing server.
From Exchange Admin, open the properties window for the server. Select the Database Paths tab and note where each item is located.
Stop all Exchange services and set them to manual startup.
Ensure there is a local administrator account on the server.
Rename the server and restart.
Delete the original server name from the domain.
On the new hardware, uninstall Exchange server.
Once the original server's name has disappeared from the server manager window, rename the new server using the original server's name and join the domain.
Install Exchange server on the new hardware using the same Organization, Site, and Server names used on the original server. Ensure all NT and Exchange service packs have been applied that were installed on the old server.
Run Exchange Optimizer and make sure the database paths match the information gathered from the original server.
Once Optimizer completes, stop all Exchange services.
Find the following folders on all drives: mdbdata, mtadata, dsadata.
In each folder, create a folder named 'Hold', and move the contents of the folders into the respective 'Hold' folders.
COPY (DO NOT MOVE) the data from the above folders on the old server to the corresponding folders on the new server, being careful to move data from drive C: to drive C:, D: to D:, etc.
When all data has been copied over, open a DOS window and execute the following command:
c:\exchsrvr\bin\isinteg -patch
When this completes, you will receive a message that the database was successfully updated. If you get any errors, try changing the directory to the drive and folder containing the priv.edb and pub.edb, and try again.
Once you have received the message that the database was successfully updated, you can start the Exchange services. If you had installed the internet mail connector on the original server, you will have to re-install it on the new server.
Once the server is up and running, you can delete the 'Hold' folders.
Let me know if you have any questions.
Bob
This must be done when you can have e-mail unavailable for about 4 hours.
Move the mailboxes back to the original server and remove the server from the site.
First, ensure you have a current backup of the existing server.
From Exchange Admin, open the properties window for the server. Select the Database Paths tab and note where each item is located.
Stop all Exchange services and set them to manual startup.
Ensure there is a local administrator account on the server.
Rename the server and restart.
Delete the original server name from the domain.
On the new hardware, uninstall Exchange server.
Once the original server's name has disappeared from the server manager window, rename the new server using the original server's name and join the domain.
Install Exchange server on the new hardware using the same Organization, Site, and Server names used on the original server. Ensure all NT and Exchange service packs have been applied that were installed on the old server.
Run Exchange Optimizer and make sure the database paths match the information gathered from the original server.
Once Optimizer completes, stop all Exchange services.
Find the following folders on all drives: mdbdata, mtadata, dsadata.
In each folder, create a folder named 'Hold', and move the contents of the folders into the respective 'Hold' folders.
COPY (DO NOT MOVE) the data from the above folders on the old server to the corresponding folders on the new server, being careful to move data from drive C: to drive C:, D: to D:, etc.
When all data has been copied over, open a DOS window and execute the following command:
c:\exchsrvr\bin\isinteg -patch
When this completes, you will receive a message that the database was successfully updated. If you get any errors, try changing the directory to the drive and folder containing the priv.edb and pub.edb, and try again.
Once you have received the message that the database was successfully updated, you can start the Exchange services. If you had installed the internet mail connector on the original server, you will have to re-install it on the new server.
Once the server is up and running, you can delete the 'Hold' folders.
Let me know if you have any questions.
Bob
- Thread starter
- #12
Keep in mind that if you intend to remove the original server from your domain that you will have to change the new server to be the 'first server' in the site before you can remove the old server from the site. You'll find documentation on how to do this on TechNet.
It's good that you had no trouble moving your mailboxes from server to server, but then that's to be expected. For future reference (and I'm not beating up on you about this), the procedure I detailed for you is the preferred method for replacing old hardware with new (when you're not planning to keep the old server on the network). If you're either running the Enterprise version of Exchange 5.5 or your database isn't that large, using the method you did won't cause you any difficulty. If things are the other way around, you could run into the 16GB limit.
Later,
Bob
It's good that you had no trouble moving your mailboxes from server to server, but then that's to be expected. For future reference (and I'm not beating up on you about this), the procedure I detailed for you is the preferred method for replacing old hardware with new (when you're not planning to keep the old server on the network). If you're either running the Enterprise version of Exchange 5.5 or your database isn't that large, using the method you did won't cause you any difficulty. If things are the other way around, you could run into the 16GB limit.
Later,
Bob
- Thread starter
- #14
Cheers Bob.Upgraded to enterprise version of exchange as reaching 12gig database and growing rapidly.Original server is PDC so will be staying on network. Gratefull for the advice. Reading up on removal of first server from exchange org.nearly finished moving mailboxes - only a few left!!
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