Any Exchange guys out there ?

[JPSpen]

I'm trying to recover a corrupt exchange database store using the eseutil /p
command...

It appears to be hung at 80% while repairing the damaged tables. But the database is quite large...

Any thoughts ??

Thanks,

John

[JPSpen]

Just needed to be patient..

Thanks anyway

John

[zippy_gg]

John, we were glad to help! Please don't hesitate to contact us again!:D
Anyway, repairing an Exchange database can be very time consuming, but it usually works! For years Microsoft "threatened" to change form the Jet database to SQL, but instead decided to "improve" the jet with Exchange 2003.

[dwsdad]

I think Exchange has a file size "limit". Once it hits that magic point, it just goes bonkers. Fixing it once it hits that mark is really hard. Did you try archiving first?

[zippy_gg]

With SP2, Exchange 2003 now has a mailbox database size limit of 75 GB, increased from 16 GB. That is for the Standard Edition of Exchange 2003, which is limited to just one data store. The Enterprise Edition allow multiple data stores.

[MarkEngland]

I'm trying to recover a corrupt exchange database store using the eseutil /p
command...

It appears to be hung at 80% while repairing the damaged tables. But the database is quite large...

Any thoughts ??

Thanks,

John
John, eseutil will hit two subsystems the hardest (disk - CPU) in this order. I have seen eseutil /p take 30+ hours to run.

Here is an article I wrote about Exchange design that explains disk sizing and some very common mistakes.

http://www.windowsitpro.com/Article/ArticleID/48672/48672.html?Ad=1

Glad that you waited and did not stop eseutil. That would be like riding without an iPOD.. :)

Mark

[MarkEngland]

I think Exchange has a file size "limit". Once it hits that magic point, it just goes bonkers. Fixing it once it hits that mark is really hard. Did you try archiving first?
As pointed out, the Standard version of Exchange does have a size limit and if you reach it and hit 100%, you are out of luck (for the average person) and need to create a new IS. Monitoring the event log will prevent this as Exchagne will start logging errors when it gets close to full. This was a common MSFT PSS call with standard version and a 16GB limit.

Mark

[JPSpen]

Thanks guys for the input. As with many things Microsoft. A bit of patience is sometimes necessary.

I'm currently preaching not using Outlook as a file repository anyway.
Way too many of my customers keep thinking that they can go back indefinately and keep too many files and attachments...

So now I keep an eye on the mailboxes and tell my users to start moving stuff when they reach 200 MB.

Most of my accounts are small anyway < 25 users, I have a lot of SBS customers..I'm doing good if I can get a look at their servers once a month..
So I kind of have to be ultra conservative...Simple is best for small accounts...

Keeps them out of trouble and me riding in the afternoons !:)


Thanks again for your input.

John

[MarkEngland]

I'm currently preaching not using Outlook as a file repository anyway. John

John, I assume when you say Outlook, you mean the Exchange server. You might consider changing that approach either way. My current mailbox size is 2.3GB on Exchange and about 15GB in PSTs on my laptop.

If diskspace on the Exchange server is the concern, then using mailbox manager and policies is the right approach so you can keep riding in the afternoon. If not, let Exchange do what it does best and manage their data (email, attachments, etc). It is far better to keep the data on Exchange where you can manage it and they can get to it.

My humble 1.5 cents :)
Mark