Re: Disappearing disk space?

Hi Les: thanks for this response.

"Les Connor [SBS MVP]" <les.connor@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:9A0F9CF9-FC92-481D-8AC8-DE361EC73724@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
As a test, temporarily disable A/V file space scanning on the system
drive.

I noted this when I was looking at the docs for moving data folders, and
most of the 3 years that the server has been running happily, it's run
without any AV - it's NATted and isn't used for client email or by users,
so I used to feel OK about leaving out the AV. But I lost my nerve a few
months ago and installed it. :-) So it sounds like the AV is the problem -
though I would be interested to understand more about why.


There are a number of files, file types, and folders that should be
excluded
from A/V scanning. Because SBS does lots of things, the list is longer
than
on any other system.

SQL (or any database, for that example) should not be scanned, same for
Exchange, and some of the folders pertaining to the DC function.

Is there anywhere I can obtain a complete list of folders to exclude? I
assume that you mean data folders for the db and Exchange, rather than
binaries?

I already excluded the particular folder with the problem logfile in it, but
I'll try suspending the AV overnight and see if that cures it.

Thanks
Nik


--
Les Connor [SBS MVP]


"nik" <nik_AT_cict.co.uk> wrote in message
news:%23BTMYdWuHHA.1672@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Hi Les:

What anti-virus application do you have installed?

Sophos.

I've noticed similar
behaviour with Trend CSM on very tight system partitions.
There may be some
relief, but it's only a temporary measure as it's really hard to keep
enough
free space on a 12 gb system partition.

Last night, after moving the scheduled tasks as Terence suggested, the
problem recurred - but more severely. I suspect that one of the
scheduled
tasks which I moved was limiting the damage, not causing it!

But I have nailed down where the disc space is going - it's filling up
with
this SQL logfile:
C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL
Server\MSSQL$SBSMONITORING\Data\SBSMonitoring_log.LDF
Once I shrink that dB, I get my 2.5Gb of space back - until tomorrow.

Any idea why this might be happening? Both our backup and our AV
software
use SQL dBs - but does the fact that this is the SBSMonitoring dB still
suggest that a 3rd-party app is responsible? Is there any tool in SBS
which
I can use to look at this logfile?

So in the end, you'll need to resize c: anyway. You should find lots of
hits
on resizing if you do a google search of this newsgroup. A disk imaging
product is your best bet for this task.

Thanks, I'll check it out.

Regards
Nik


--
Les Connor [SBS MVP]


"nik" <nik_AT_cict.co.uk> wrote in message
news:%23Ka4mFKuHHA.3796@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Hi Terence: many thanks for your detailed and informative reply.


According to your description, I understand that your SBS system
partition
free space disappear at every 03:00. If I have misunderstood the
problem,
please don't hesitate to let me know.

Mostly correct, though on a small minority of days, the issue simply
doesn't
happen. There seems to be no pattern to this.

What's especially strange is that the free space usually comes back
again
within a couple of hours, and when it disappears, it doesn't show up
in
file/folder sizes on the drive at that time.

Based on my research, I think this issue relate to 3rd-party
software
or
some scheduled tasks running on SBS.

I had suspcisions about the Backup Exec backup software we use, but I
stopped all Backup Exec services yesterday evevning, and the problem
still
recurred last night. There's no other 3rd-party software running on
a
schedule AFAIK - and there's certainly nothing coming up in the event
logs.

I suggest we try the following steps
to see if we can resolve this issue:

1. Please check the scheduled tasks running on SBS

a. Please open control panel->Scheduled Tasks

b. Please check whether some scheduled tasks' Next Run time is
nearby
03:00

Nothing is scheduled to run specifically at 03:00. The only
scheduled
tasks
are:

Collect Server Performance Data (every hour)
Collect Usage Data (Daily at 04:30)
File_Backup (disabled, as we have 3rd party backup software)
Small Business Server - Server Status Report - Server Performance
Report
(daily at 06:00)

I guess that means that the Collect Server Performance Data will run
at
03:00 though... I'll try moving the tasks tonight.


c. Please move all scheduled tasks to another folder, the tasks will
do
not
run, then monitor the SBS at 03:00

d. If the issue persists, we can move all scheduled tasks back.

2. Please do clean boot on SBS and monitor to narrow down this issue

I will try this option over the next couple of days, but as other
folks
here
have observed, SBS tends to be a single-server setup, so it can be
difficult
to get maintenance time when there are problems. OK, not many people
want
to work at 3am, but then again, neither do I. :-)


3. For SBS 2003 server, the 2.5GB free space in system partition is
too
little. I suggest you move some data or folders from system
partition
to
additional partition or disk. This will make SBS run smooth.

Tell me about it - but when I installed this system in 2004, 12Gb was
the
system partition size recommended by Microsoft for our server. It's
now
hopelessly inadequate, even though I've moved all the data files
which
Technet articles suggest moving. We have more drive space available
on
the
machine, but I know of no way to increase the system partition size -
is
there a way of adding unused space to the system partition or
recreating
the
system partition to another drive? The server is SCSI RAID5, and I'm
just
about to install an additional array of 3 drives in it, so now would
be
a
good time to reorganise the storage if it's possible.

Would it be sensible to try reinstalling the system from scratch on
the
new
drive, using a larger system partition (how big?), and restoring our
data
into that new installation from backup?

Best regards
Nik








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    ... Because SBS does lots of things, the list is longer than on any other system. ... SQL should not be scanned, same for Exchange, and some of the folders pertaining to the DC function. ... Please check the scheduled tasks running on SBS ... I suggest you move some data or folders from system partition ...
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