Re: Eseutil utility Defrag question
- From: HockeyMullet <HockeyMullet@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 19 Jan 2006 10:27:07 -0800
I want to thank everyone for the advice.
"Susan" wrote:
> oh my...some of this is not good advice, at all. Microsoft recommends
> running an offline defrag only when necessary...
>
> --
> Susan Conkey [MVP]
>
>
>
> "HockeyMullet" <HockeyMullet@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
> news:F919B73D-FD91-40C7-888C-F011B6207F19@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > Sorry about the link. Here's the article.
> >
> >
> >
> > Exchange Server Standard Maintenance Checklist
> > By Brien Posey, SearchExchange.com Contributor
> >
> > Brien M. Posey, MVP and technology consultant, provides this standard
> > maintenance checklist to help you keep your Exchange servers running like
> > well-oiled machines.
> >
> > â–¡ Keep Windows up to date
> > One of the most important tasks in maintaining your Exchange organization
> is
> > keeping the Windows operating system up to date. After all, Exchange
> Server
> > is completely dependent on Windows. If a security weakness or software bug
> > exists in Windows, there’s a good chance it will affect Exchange on some
> > level as well.
> >
> > Microsoft routinely releases patches for Windows that correct new bugs and
> > security holes that have been discovered. Fortunately, you don’t have to
> > constantly search the Web for the latest updates. Windows Server 2003
> > contains a feature called Windows Update, which allows you to check for
> the
> > latest patches and install them automatically.
> >
> > If you are depending on Windows Update for your software updates, I
> > recommend scanning for new ones at least three times per week. However,
> there
> > are also many third-party applications available that automate the patch
> > management process.
> >
> > â–¡ Keep Exchange up to date
> > Some administrators don’t realize that Windows Update does not check for
> > Exchange Server patches. The easiest way to check for any Exchange updates
> is
> > to run the Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer.
> >
> > Microsoft also has another free tool called the Microsoft Exchange Best
> > Practices Analyzer, which checks to make sure that your server is running
> an
> > optimal configuration, and that there are no potential problems on the
> > horizon. Although this tool isn’t technically designed to help you to
> > download software updates, I recommend taking the time to run it once per
> > week.
> >
> > â–¡ Monitor disk space consumption
> > As you are no doubt aware, Exchange Server is hungry for disk space. If
> > Exchange runs out of disk space, the Information Store will shut down,
> > leaving you with no e-mail. It is therefore extremely important to keep
> tabs
> > on the amount of free disk space on the server. You not only want to
> monitor
> > the volumes containing the Exchange databases, but also those volumes
> > containing transaction logs.
> >
> > Keep in mind that while running out of disk space is a big problem,
> letting
> > the Exchange databases get too large is an even bigger problem. Exchange
> > Server 2003 Enterprise Edition doesn’t impose an Information Store size
> > limit, but all other versions of Exchange have a 16 GB limit. If the
> > Information Store reaches the 16 GB threshold, the repair process is very
> > messy, so it’s important to keep tabs on things so that ceiling is never
> > reached.
> >
> > â–¡ Monitor hardware utilization
> > Monitoring the way Exchange is utilizing your server’s hardware isn’t
> > something you need to do every day, but it is important to do once in a
> > while. As your user base grows, you may find that your server’s CPU
> becomes
> > overworked and that available memory starts to dwindle. So run Performance
> > Monitor about once a month to compare the current hardware utilization
> > against the previous month’s recorded utilization. This will allow you
> to
> > spot trends over the long term, so you can upgrade your server hardware
> > before major performance problems arise.
> >
> > â–¡ Monitor and document license usage
> > What would you do if the Software & Information Industry Association
> (SIIA)
> > visited your office tomorrow and performed a software license audit? If
> you
> > aren’t prepared for such an audit, the fines alone could be enough to
> drive
> > your company out of business.
> >
> > It is extremely important to keep accurate records of the number of
> > employees who access your Exchange organization. You must ensure that you
> > have enough Windows Client Access Licenses, Exchange Client Access
> Licenses,
> > Windows XP Licenses, and Microsoft Outlook Licenses to accommodate the
> number
> > of people who are accessing your Exchange server. Hopefully, you have an
> > asset management program that tracks software license compliance. If not,
> you
> > should be updating your records every time you create or remove a mailbox.
> >
> > â–¡ Perform regular backups
> > Obviously, it’s important to back up your Information Store in case your
> > server ever crashes. Exchange backups are important for another reason
> > though. When Exchange receives a message, the message is not written
> directly
> > to the Information Store, but rather to a transaction log. Running an
> online
> > backup forces the contents of the transaction logs to be committed to the
> > Information Store. If you don’t regularly back up your Exchange server,
> the
> > transaction logs can continue to grow until your server runs out of disk
> > space.
> >
> > â–¡ Defragment the databases
> > As messages are created and deleted, the Information Store becomes
> > fragmented. Exchange 2000 and 2003 perform automated defragmentation of
> the
> > databases to help reduce the effects of fragmentation. The problem with
> this
> > automatic defragmentation is that free space within the database is never
> > released. The only way to release the free space (and decrease the
> database’s
> > size) is to perform an offline defragmentation. To do so, you will need to
> > take the Information Store offline and run the ESEUTIL program with the /D
> > switch.
> >
> > The volume containing the Information Store must have at least the size of
> > the database that you are defragmenting, plus 10% in free space.
> Therefore,
> > if you had a 1 GB database, an offline defragmentation would require 1.1
> GB
> > of free disk space. The disk space will be returned to you after the
> > defragmentation is complete, but is needed as temporary work space. I
> > recommend performing an offline defragmentation once every one to two
> months.
> >
> >
> > â–¡ Schedule periodic reboots
> > Just as a database can become fragmented, so can the server’s memory.
> The
> > easiest way to get rid of the fragmentation is to reboot the server. If
> your
> > corporation’s server availability policy will allow it, I recommend
> rebooting
> > your Exchange server about once a month.
> >
> > â–¡ Let MOM help
> > As you can see, there are lots of things that you can do to maintain a
> > healthy Exchange environment. One of the best things you can do though is
> run
> > Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM). Although MOM can be a little pricy, it
> > monitors thousands of aspects related to Windows and Exchange. If an issue
> is
> > encountered, MOM takes corrective action or alerts you to the issue before
> it
> > has a chance to become a problem. In my opinion, MOM is the ultimate
> > maintenance tool.
> >
> >
> > "Ben Winzenz [Exchange MVP]" wrote:
> >
> > > Membership required. Strike one.
> > >
> > > There is a fairly good reason that you don't find that information on
> > > Microsoft's website. You certainly won't find any PSS engineers that
> will
> > > recommend offline defrags every 1-2 months.
> > >
> > > What other items are on their "maintenance checklist"? There are
> perhaps
> > > other things that need to be cleared up, no?
> > >
> > > --
> > > Ben Winzenz
> > > Exchange MVP
> > > MessageOne
> > > Read my blog!
> > > http://winzenz.blogspot.com
> > > http://feeds.feedburner.com/winzenz (RSS Feed)
> > >
> > >
> > > "HockeyMullet" <HockeyMullet@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
> > > news:16007481-B8C3-475F-803C-4516D9DF732E@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > > >
> http://searchexchange.techtarget.com/tip/1,289483,sid43_gci1064013,00.html?t
> rack=NL-368&ad=539998
> > > >
> > > > "Andy David - MVP" wrote:
> > > >
> > > >> On Thu, 19 Jan 2006 06:32:02 -0800, HockeyMullet
> > > >> <HockeyMullet@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> > > >>
> > > >> >I'm actually going through a "maintenance checklist" from an
> Exchange
> > > >> >website
> > > >> >that recommends doing offline defrags every one to two months.
> > > >> >
> > > >>
> > > >> Can you post a link to that? I have never heard of this.
> > > >>
> > > >>
> > > >>
> > > >> >"Andy David - MVP" wrote:
> > > >> >
> > > >> >> On Thu, 19 Jan 2006 06:08:02 -0800, HockeyMullet
> > > >> >> <HockeyMullet@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> > > >> >>
> > > >> >> >I'm about to run a defrag, so what I was wondering how long does
> it
> > > >> >> >generally
> > > >> >> >take (average time)? My priv1.edb is about 12 GB. I'm trying to
> > > >> >> >plan a good
> > > >> >> >time to do this. Thanks.
> > > >> >>
> > > >> >>
> > > >> >> I am more interested in why you are running it in the first place.
> > > >> >>
> > > >>
> > >
> > >
> > >
>
>
>
.
- References:
- Re: Eseutil utility Defrag question
- From: Andy David - MVP
- Re: Eseutil utility Defrag question
- From: Andy David - MVP
- Re: Eseutil utility Defrag question
- From: Ben Winzenz [Exchange MVP]
- Re: Eseutil utility Defrag question
- From: HockeyMullet
- Re: Eseutil utility Defrag question
- From: Susan
- Re: Eseutil utility Defrag question
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