Priv1 Information Store Full 4

[Arran]

Hello!

We are running Exchange 2000 and keep getting this error message in the Event Logs:

Information Store (3664) The database D:\Exchsrvr\mdbdata\priv1.edb has reached its maximum size of 16383 MB. If the database cannot be restarted, an offline defragmentation may be performed to reduce its size.

We run Exchange 2000 SP on a Windows 2000 Server SP4 machine. We have about 40Gb of HDD space free. The Priv1.edb file is just over 12.5 Gb and in the same folder another Priv1 file is just over 4gb (it has a HTML ext(!)). We support about 150 users. We haven't seen any problems as yet except a minor performance issue - but how can we get rid of this error message appearing?

Any ideas would be great!

Thanks
A

 

[Davetoo]

You're running the standard version of Exchange 2000 which has a 16GB limit on it's information store (as you've already guessed by now).

You can defrag your store to free up some room, have your users archive old email into PST's to free up some room, or you can upgrade to Exchange Enterprise which has no limits on its store.

The first thing you're gonna have to do is do an offline defrag in order to reduce the size of the store to get it back online. Check the FAQ, I'm sure there's a step-by-step there on how to do that.

I'm Certifiable, not certified.
It just means my answers are from experience, not a book.

 

[Arran]

Brilliant info Lander - thanks for the help! Anyone any idea how long an offline defrag takes on a 16Gb Priv1 - and is it relativly safe to do (ie what are the chances of it crashing...!!!)

Thanks again
A

 

[securityforums]

I was aware of the 16gig limit but am not yet 'lucky' enough to hit it

I thought the 16g limit was purely on the store itself but judging by your post its the combined store and stream file

"The Priv1.edb file is just over 12.5 Gb and in the same folder another Priv1 file is just over 4gb (it has a HTML ext(!))."

Hopefully someone else can answer your post with regards to defrag time for a store of this size but you should definately have a VERIFIED backup handy just incase!

Ive just replied to another thread on how to enforce storage limits ( thread858-616298 )

Have a look into exmerge, you can archive mail straight from the store into pst files based on set criteria:

I.e anything in mailbox x before date y move to userx.pst

This might be a start to get the size down and at least get the stores back up and running again

Good luck!

----------------------->

http://exchange.security-forums.com

http://www.security-forums.com

 

[OxygenThief]

We have recently been in this situation. Be careful, the exchange server can and will become unresponsive if you don't free up some space.

You need to run eseutil /d to defragment the database. On the first pass this took us six hours, MS recommend 0.5 hour per GB. Sunsequent passes are taking 2 hours on 16GB.

The html file you mention is a .stm file (streaming database), it just uses the IE icon.

Apart from the downtime we haven't had any bad results from this. The file is copied to a temp location, worked on then copied back. You can always make a copy of the old databases anyway.

To verify the database use isinteg.exe

Let us know if you hit any snags, may be able to help further.

 

[Arran]

Brilliant info guys.

Thanks for the help - in the end we managed to catch the problem before the Exchnage Server went down and asked users to archive emails off and managed to get back quite a chunk of space. The Priv1.EDB still reports at 12Gb but we figure that file size stays the same until you defrag offline even though there is free psace within the file. The errors messages have stopped anyway. We will do the defrag soon - so all being well everything will be A OK!!

Thanks for all your help...
A

 

[OxygenThief]

Be careful with the file size. The exchange box I spoke about reported file attributes of 8GB, but Exchange expands this to 14GB, probably because it's on a compressed drive.

 

[pdtit]

Arran,

I'd like to give my remarks / experience on your question as well, beside that all given information is already excellent.

* when running the eseutil /d defragmentation, you need about twice the amount of diskspace for the temporary file.
As you have 16Gb, count on 35-40 Gb diskspace needed.

* have your users remove all unnecessary mails, including emptying deleted items and sent items (these folders are forgotten many many times !!!)

* Every night, some &quot;maintenance task&quot; is run on Exchange databases, which shows up in the event log. Event ID 700 and 701 will mention the amount of space that will be free after offline defrag. If this amount is < 25% of the database size, consider upgrading to Enterprise edition.

* Before starting defrag operation, stop Exchange services, and copy all files in the <exchange data path>\mdbdata(logs + priv.edb-priv.stm + pub.edb-pub.edm)
to another server, or take full backups of these files to tape.

* Run exmerge on all mailboxes as second backup, before starting your procedures. Exmerge takes all Exchange mailboxes and moves them to PST-files.
When your database fucks up, you can still recover your mailboxes if necessary.

I hope this helps,

Regards,

Peter