Offline Defrag on Mailbox Stores (Full Version)

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boxexpert -> Offline Defrag on Mailbox Stores (21.Dec.2007 10:09:44 AM)

i have to offline defrag all the mailbox stores. which are the correct commands to do that?



renegade X -> RE: Offline Defrag on Mailbox Stores (21.Dec.2007 7:46:35 PM)

Its a good thing you did not just defrag it. LOL Boy what a mess that makes.

Check here http://www.petri.co.il/defragment_exchange_2000_2003_server_databases.htm

Hope this helps




uemurad -> RE: Offline Defrag on Mailbox Stores (21.Dec.2007 10:38:47 PM)

Why do you wish to run an offline defrag?  How big are your database files?  How much whitespace to you stand to reclaim?

ESEUtil is the command to use, but offline defrags should never be considered standard operating procedure.



boxexpert -> RE: Offline Defrag on Mailbox Stores (22.Dec.2007 6:44:12 AM)

the main reason is because we had a migration with a mail archiving system and theres alot of "rubbish" on the mailbox stores which i want to get rid of.

eseutil is the tool,but which parameters are the correct ones to to so?



uemurad -> RE: Offline Defrag on Mailbox Stores (22.Dec.2007 11:22:23 AM)

I went through the same situation.  First, the answer to your question is ESEUTIL /D.  Here's some documentation for you to read through:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb123761.aspx

That being said, since you used the word "stores", does that mean you are running Exchange Enterprise?  If so, consider instead creating a new mailbox store and moving mailboxes into it.  This leaves the stores running the entire time and you can schedule the moves as you need.  When the old store has no mailboxes remaining, you can delete it from your Exchange organization and then delete the database files.



boxexpert -> RE: Offline Defrag on Mailbox Stores (22.Dec.2007 2:27:41 PM)

yes, we have the enterprise edition.

one of the store cannot get a offline defrag,because theres something weird about it.

eseutil /d on each store,is that correct?



uemurad -> RE: Offline Defrag on Mailbox Stores (22.Dec.2007 5:44:56 PM)

ESEUTIL works on a single store.  It does need to be dismounted when you run it.  Depending upon how large the database is, this can take many hours to run (there's a time estimate in the documentation link I sent).  That means everyone with mailboxes in that store will be unable to do anything until you bring it back online.  Also know that ESEUTIL is very intrusive and can actually cause problems if the database is corrupted in some manners.  The resulting defragged files may not be able to mount.  Always perform a full backup (or make a copy) of the database files (EDB and STM) before attempting ESEUTIL or ISINTEG (another utility - Information Store INTEGrity check).  Details of that utility should be close to the link about ESEUTIL.

I'll restate my case for creating the separate mailbox store and moving mailboxes into it.  Users will individually be disconnected from Email while their particular mailbox is being moved, and since only non-deleted messages are moved, you end up with a defragmented database.



boxexpert -> RE: Offline Defrag on Mailbox Stores (23.Dec.2007 7:48:09 AM)

ok,we have six mailbox stores.i will do this during the night brcause nobody is working then.

i believe,i have to invest two nights because the stores have a size between 1GB and 7GB the most.



uemurad -> RE: Offline Defrag on Mailbox Stores (23.Dec.2007 11:46:44 AM)

1GB and 7GB?  If that is the size of the fragmented databases, it doesn't sound like you have a lot of space to recover.  Even still, what is your objection to moving the mailboxes instead of running the offline defrag?  The mailbox move wizard has a scheduler within.  You could do the work in your sleep and not risk corrupting the databases (yes, there is a possibility that ESEUTIL will introduce corruption).  The Exchange 2003 mailbox move wizard will automatically backout the move if it runs into a problem.

As I mentioned earlier in the thread, I am living through what you describe on a larger scale.  I started with 18 stores on one server totalling 800GB and after activating a 3rd-party archiving solution I am in the final stages of reducing that to 10 stores totaling around 250GB.  I am accomplishing that by moving mailboxes and have yet to run an offline defrag.  They are inherently dangerous and should only be used in extreme cases (e.g. when directed by Microsoft PSS).



boxexpert -> RE: Offline Defrag on Mailbox Stores (23.Dec.2007 8:17:32 PM)

to be correct, there are two exchange servers and each has three mailbox stores. the sizes vary between 1 and 7 GB.

i want to offline defrag all of them because the servers have become slow.

one of the stores i have to create new because i cannot defrag it



boxexpert -> RE: Offline Defrag on Mailbox Stores (23.Dec.2007 8:19:07 PM)

uemurad

which 3rd party tool are you using?



uemurad -> RE: Offline Defrag on Mailbox Stores (23.Dec.2007 9:17:47 PM)

quote:

i want to offline defrag all of them because the servers have become slow.
Shrinking the databases doesn't do anything for access speed.  The online defrag that takes place every night (by default) gathers up all the whitespace.  You should check the 1221 Events in your Application Log to see how much space you stand to gain for each store.  Having no whitespace can actually hurt performance because of the overhead involved with growing the database files.
quote:

which 3rd party tool are you using?
Symantec's Enterprise Vault.

Read the following for tips on troubleshooting performance issues:
Troubleshooting Microsoft Exchange Server Performance

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa997270.aspx



boxexpert -> RE: Offline Defrag on Mailbox Stores (26.Dec.2007 1:48:53 PM)

we just implemented the new version of EV, 7.5 with SP1.

im going to do this tonight..

eseutil /d is till the correct command to clean up the databases,right?



uemurad -> RE: Offline Defrag on Mailbox Stores (26.Dec.2007 5:48:12 PM)

To be specific, ESEUTIL /D is the command for defragmenting database files.  "Clean up" has connotations that may or may not be applicable.



boxexpert -> RE: Offline Defrag on Mailbox Stores (26.Dec.2007 6:15:38 PM)

ok,maybe i was a bit wrong. the main reason is still to shrink the database and get some space back.

anything else i need to consider?



uemurad -> RE: Offline Defrag on Mailbox Stores (26.Dec.2007 6:25:59 PM)

I just wanted to make sure you weren't expecting something to happen besides the defrag.

I know I sound like a broken record, but I'm going to say it one last time.  Using ESEUTIL may introduce issues into the database.  Using ESEUTIL means the mailbox store you are optimizing will be offline the entire time.  Make sure you have a good (full) backup before you run ESEUTIL.  If you create a new mailbox store and move mailboxes into it, the only time a mailbox will be unavailable to the user is when it is being moved.  Once the move completes, the mailbox is available again.  You can schedule moves using the mailbox move wizard.  If the move encounters a corrupted message, it will skip over it.  If the number of corrupted messages reaches a preset threshold, the move will automatically abort.  Any failed move will cause the wizard to back out the move.  I've done my optimization without taking any of the living stores offline.  I've rebooted the server here and there (make sure you dismount any stores first), but we're talking about minutes of downtime instead of hours.

Good luck with your work...



boxexpert -> RE: Offline Defrag on Mailbox Stores (26.Dec.2007 6:52:53 PM)

alright,its running now. heres its midnight and nobody is working,so no problem if the stores are offline for a few hours



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