Re: Exchange log files growing

I didn't want to mention the capacity issue until the exchange log issue was
cleared up. Good work, (but If you use SBSbackup this kind of thing doesn't
happen). But what you're doing by excluding data to make up for undersized
backup capacity isn't right ;-). Better even to switch to a pair of USB
drives, than start excluding data. Look at it this way - in the event the
backups are required to recover from a disaster, the cost of using the
backup with the excluded data may exceed the cost of biting the bullet now.

--
Les Connor [SBS Community Member - SBS MVP]
-----------------------------------------------------------
SBS Rocks !
----------------------
"Tell me and I'll forget. Show me and I'll remember. Involve me and I'll
understand." - Confucius


"colin" <colin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:F568765B-2E45-491D-914E-DE256FFDDD82@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Thanks for your help but I figured it out.. Turns out that when I
performed a
manual NTBackup of the Information Store I had the Backup Type set to Copy
instead of Normal (dumb mistake on my part). With it set that way it won't
clean out the log files. I ran NTBackup set to Normal and everything looks
good now.

Now I can install the B/U Exec for SBS Trial and see if it solves my tape
capacity problem.

Regards,

Colin

"Jim Behning" wrote:

Personally i would delete all the logs from 3/10 and 4/10.

I also dig out other old logs when I touch a server. I look at old
logs in System32/log files which seems to have plenty of logs that
most will never look at.

On Thu, 5 Oct 2006 09:02:02 -0700, colin
<colin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

I like the DLT tape solution as well but it would cost the customer huge
bucks, plus at least 6 new tapes. I will look into that option and at
least
give my customer the costs. But I need to resolve this problem first as
it's
getting worse according to this mornings failed backup. Looking at the
MDBDATA folder their are 247 log files dated 3/10/06, 116 log files from
4/10/06 and 6 from today. priv1.edb is dated 3/10/06. I haven't tried
rebooting the server yet and I'm going in there this morning to install
3 new
workstations so maybe I can kick everyone off for a reboot.

What do you think about the B/U Exec for SBS? Is it inferior to SBS
Backup?
It would use up less tape capacity so solving my full tape problem, at
least
for a year or so. The rate this customer is growing the DLT solution is
probably a good idea but if I can tell them it's a year away they would
be
happier.

Thanks for your help....

Colin

"Jim Behning" wrote:

Bigger tape drive is a better solution. I have fought tape size at a
few accounts. A DLT drive makes that go away. If the Exchange lost
track of those logs meaning it is not using those logs any more then
the backup will never delete those old logs. You can move them but you
need to know what you are moving. I would stop the information store
and restart it. I would then move the really old logs and see if
things work. Note that I said I would. I am not realy recommending you
yank all the logs out because some may actual be in use.

You should take note of logs that are a day or two old. Run the backup
of the information store to see which ones disappear. It will probably
flush away the ones that are around since the last backup but not the
ones dated today or the ones that are really old. You should be able
to move the really old logs. Don't delete logs just in case you
grabbed some good ones. Note that you really need to pay attention. If
you mess with the wrong logs you have to suffer some repairs that
sometimes do not work.

On Wed, 4 Oct 2006 23:51:22 -0500, "Les Connor [SBS Community Member -
SBS MVP]" <les.connor@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

There could be two or even three problems.

Something is wrong with backup if the logfiles aren't being committed
and
flushed. Or, they are being flushed, but are building up at a very
fast
rate. What are the dates/times of the logfiles? Are they older than
the most
recent backup, or newer. You might try an NTbackup of exchange only
to see
what's going on.

If you could post an SBSbackup logfile, that might shed some light as
well.

--
Les Connor [SBS Community Member - SBS MVP]
-----------------------------------------------------------
SBS Rocks !
----------------------
"Tell me and I'll forget. Show me and I'll remember. Involve me and
I'll
understand." - Confucius


"colin" <colin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1ACC4ACC-E4F9-435B-B03F-6D0A6F76D38F@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Thanks Les, yes I was aware of the reason Exchange is backed up
twice.
The
problem is the tape drive is a DAT72 and I have excluded everything
I can
using the SBS Wizard but Windows and Exchange alone are almost
exceeding
the
capacity of the tape. I have another DAT72 drive on the Terminal
Server
backing up the data. That is what's happening now, the backup
failed
because
the Exchange log files are growing (over 300 log files in the
MDBData
folder), NTBackup isn't clearing them out and so the tape pops out
when
it's
full. Is B/u Exec for SBS not a better idea? I've not used it on a
SBS
before
but it looks good on Symantec's web site (of course), the disaster
recovery
is one big feature.

Let me know what you think....

Colin

"Les Connor [SBS Community Member - SBS M" wrote:

Hi Colin,

Be aware that there's a reason why Exchange is backed up twice
using SBS
Backup. The backups aren't exactly the same - one is an exchange
aware
backup which commits and flushes the logfiles, the other is a flat
file
backup. The reason the second (flat file) backup is performed is
for ease
of
recovery. i.e. if you follow the SBS backup and restore
documentation
(which
is a complete and proven method), you'll need SBS Backup.

BE might be fine for the backup half of the equation, but they're
not
very
helpful when it comes to the restore, which is the reason you back
up in
the
first place ;-).

--
Les Connor [SBS Community Member - SBS MVP]
-----------------------------------------------------------
SBS Rocks !
----------------------
"Tell me and I'll forget. Show me and I'll remember. Involve me
and I'll
understand." - Confucius


"colin" <colin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:684656BB-A6A3-4C72-92EF-27686C880E87@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Thanks for the reply Kevin,

I did backup the Microsoft Information Store as I mentioned but
it
didn't
remove the log files. NTBackup (using the SBS Backup Wizard) is
scheduled
to
run nightly and has been removing them OK up to now. That's why
I ran
it
again manually but the files remain.

Funny you mentioned Backup Exec in your reply. I'm actually
going to
install
the trial B/U Exec for SBS soon and convince the customer to
switch.
One
problem with the SBS Backup wizard is it backs up the IS twice
using up
the
tape space. I'm hoping that B/U Exec only does a single backup
of the
IS.

Should I just install the trial B/U Exec and abandon SBS Backup?

Regards,

Colin

"Kevin Weilbacher" wrote:

you need to rerun your NTBackup, and drill down on the left
pane
Microsoft
Exchange Server > YourServerName > Microsoft Information
Store -- and
back
that up. That will remove the .log files.

As far as Backup Exec not working, generally when you install
BE, it
loads
its own Veritas tape drivers, which then makes NTBackup not
function.
The
fact that NTBackup "seems" to work, may indictae something is
broke or
disabled in BE.

Essentially, you either use BE or you use NTBackup.

--
Kevin Weilbacher [SBS-MVP]
"The days pass by so quickly now, the nights are seldom long"



"colin" <colin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:416351EC-0217-4778-AFC9-7CF362DF4BE0@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I have a server running SBS 2003 with Exchange SP2. I've
noticed that
there
are over 300 log files in the MDBDATA folder and running the
nightly
backup
doesn't clear them. So I ran NTBackup and selected only the
IS but
they
are
still there. I haven't made any changes or modified Exchange
to
increase
it's
maximum Store size from the default of 16GB. priv1.edb is
6.8GB,
priv1.stm
4.5GB, pub1.edb 5.8GB. Do I need to make the registry change
to
increase
the
Store limit? Do I have to reboot the Server?

Anyone have an idea why these log files are still there?

Colin











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