Re: Reclaim Disk Space in Exchange 2003

Tech Tip: Click here to run a free scan for Windows Errors and optimize PC performance

From: Lanwench [MVP - Exchange] (lanwench_at_heybuddy.donotsendme.unsolicitedmail.atyahoo.com)
Date: 12/14/04 

Date: Tue, 14 Dec 2004 10:42:47 -0500

Nate wrote:
> Is it possible to reclaim full disk space use when users delete mail
> and then the mail is deleted from the Exchange Server? I have been
> told that once disk space is used in Exchange, it can never be
> recovered. Is this true?

No.
Your mail is stored in your mail stores - the priv*.edb and priv*.stm files.
Exchange reuses 'whitespace' when it's available in the files, and the file
size doesn't shrink when users delete mail. Are you running out of space on
your server? Are you running close to the 16GB limit per store in Exchange
Standard? (add .edb & .stm together). You can see how much whitespace is in
the database by looking at your application event log for 1221 (online
defrag) - if you have a lot of free space in there but need to compact the
data for some reason (do not do this on a regular/admin routine basis), you
have to do an offline defrag using eseutil.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Eseutil utility Defrag question
    ... >>As you are no doubt aware, Exchange Server is hungry for disk space. ... >Free space within the database *is* released. ...
    (microsoft.public.exchange.admin)
  • Re: Reclaim Disk Space in Exchange 2003
    ... What makes the whitespace available? ... >> Is it possible to reclaim full disk space use when users delete mail ... >> and then the mail is deleted from the Exchange Server? ... > have to do an offline defrag using eseutil. ...
    (microsoft.public.exchange2000.misc)
  • Re: Eseutil utility Defrag question
    ... >As you are no doubt aware, Exchange Server is hungry for disk space. ... >Server 2003 Enterprise Edition doesn?t impose an Information Store size ... >if you had a 1 GB database, an offline defragmentation would require 1.1 GB ...
    (microsoft.public.exchange.admin)
  • Re: Eseutil utility Defrag question
    ... >>As you are no doubt aware, Exchange Server is hungry for disk space. ... >>size) is to perform an offline defragmentation. ... > Free space within the database *is* released. ...
    (microsoft.public.exchange.admin)
  • Re: pop3 exchange problem
    ... isolated the Exchange server so users could not send any more ... during monitoring I noticed that the hard disk space was ... This activity I didn't see again after I got the server up ... working ok...I have tried disabling the email scanner in order to rule ...
    (microsoft.public.exchange.admin)