Re: SBS Exchange 2003: too many "Current Sessions" opened

hard-killing a process should be a last resort. The fact that it is hanging is usually a sign of a bigger problem, and you *DO* risk corrupting your information store every time you do this. I posted the 'how' strictly as a way to avoid a full reboot (which hard kills the process anyways.) Not as a workaround to be used. You really should go through the steps I posted and get the SMTP service to stop hanging in the first place. You'll be happier, you won't be clubbing your server every day with a kill script, and you won't have dead connections.

-Cliff

"Sann" <Sann@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:D4F93C02-30F6-4802-A8B3-1C9135328438@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I see.
And for the current topic (as a quick report), to kill the "current
sessions" and make sure SMTP is running I created and scheduled to run on a
daily basis a small batch, that kills inetinfo.exe and starts SMTP - should
work for now until I put into production new server hardware with sbs 2003 r2.
And if I won't be able to resolve my problem in the new enviroment, I will
be bugging you guys again. :))

"Cris Hanna [SBS-MVP]" wrote:

SBS 2008 is not a production server since it only RC1...its my test server and I'm the only user...so there was no "migration" as such

SBS 2008 does include the option during installation, to install fresh or to perform a migration installation, which allows you to introduce it into an existing SBS 2003 organizations.



--
Cris Hanna [SBS-MVP]
Co-Author, Windows Small Business Server 2008 Unleashed
http://www.amazon.com/Windows-Small-Business-Server-Unleashed/dp/0672329573/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1217269967&sr=8-1
-------------------------------------------------
Microsoft MVPs
Independent Experts (MVPs do not work for MS)
Real World Answers
---------------------------------------------------------
Please do not contact me directly regarding issues

"Sann" <Sann@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:19118D7F-6331-44AF-A64B-58E77F8F43B2@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Thanks a lot for your advices and information - will start experimenting....

btw, a quick side question to Cris: how did you move your users to SBS2008:
using migration tool in exchange or csv, ldi tools? I'm asking this question
in responce to your suggestion to bump the RAM to 4 GB. I'm installing a new
server hardware: 2x4 proc-s, 4 GB, RAID 10 on SAS, etc...

"Cris Hanna [SBS-MVP]" wrote:

> And if you only have 2GB of RAM, RAM is cheap!! bump it to 4GB
>
> And my spam has dropped so much using SBS 2008 RC1 it's a non-issue > any more
>
> -- > Cris Hanna [SBS-MVP]
> -------------------------------------------------
> Microsoft MVPs
> Independent Experts (MVPs do not work for MS)
> Real World Answers
> ---------------------------------------------------------
> Please do not contact me directly regarding issues
>
> "Cliff Galiher" <cgaliher@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message > news:Bfmdnb4hrr4v1z7VnZ2dnUVZ_gOdnZ2d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Sann:
>
> Try these things, in this order:
>
> 1) Enable recipient filtering and only accept messages from users in > AD.
> The most common reason for ridiculously long connection times is a > spambot
> trying to do a directory harvest. Since exchange defaults to accepting
> *everything* at connect time and rejecting later, you end up with the > bot
> just sending name after name to the server and never getting a > rejection.
> It has no reason to disconnect.
>
> 2) Once recipient filtering is enabled, you will actually be exposed to > a
> directory harvest attack instead of exchange just accepting everything. > So,
> you should enable tarpitting. This is the point you should see those
> connections drop down.
>
> 3) IF, after a week, you are still seeing some connections, try > *DISABLING*
> SenderID filtering on the Virtual SMTP server. There is a bug in one > of the
> SenderID dll's that can falsely hold open connections. MS has quietly
> acknowledged its existence, but has not come clean yet (to my > knowledge)
> what the exact parameters are that cause this behavior. It is not
> consistent in my experience. Some servers have it, some don't exhibit > it at
> all. And I'm told that it is fixed in Exchange 2007. I haven't seen > it
> surface on 2007 yet myself, so I'm inclined to believe them...but then
> again, SBS 2008 isn't released yet....so it could be an odd interaction
> there.
>
> To answer your other questions, the SMTP stack does seem to lock up > with
> these long connections. That is the reason that 'terminate all' does > not
> resolve the problem AND why the SMTP service stops responding if you > try to
> restart it. You do *not* need to restart the server, however.
>
> From the command line, you can run this command:
>
> sc queryex smtpsvc
>
> And in the output, find the process ID (PID). Once you have the PID, > you
> can kill the process in task manager (usually an inetinfo process, > which is
> why it is so tough to find.) From there, the process is flushed > completely
> from memory and can be restarted without problem.
>
> -Cliff
>
> "Sann" <Sann@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
> news:6894EB2A-E7E0-4AD7-B799-446E28719BFC@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > Hello Cris, thank you for your prompt reply.
> >
> > dual core 2.8 GHz with 2 GB memory.
> > the memory usage averages about 1,5 GB at all times.
> >
> > Yes, I have installed SP 2 and all latest updates released after, > > with IMF
> > and enabled on SMTP.
> >
> > "Cris Hanna [SBS-MVP]" wrote:
> >
> >> First question is...
> >> How much RAM in the Server?
> >>
> >> Second Question is
> >> Do you have Exchange Server 2003 Service Pack 2 installed and IMF
> >> configured for connection filtering against recognized blacklist
> >> providers?
> >>
> >> -- > >> Cris Hanna [SBS-MVP]
> >> -------------------------------------------------
> >> Microsoft MVPs
> >> Independent Experts (MVPs do not work for MS)
> >> Real World Answers
> >> ---------------------------------------------------------
> >> Please do not contact me directly regarding issues
> >>
> >> "Sann" <Sann@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
> >> news:12FBED5A-99AC-4821-BB29-5602036459BF@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> >> SBS Exchange 2003: too many "Current Sessions" opened
> >> Hello All,
> >>
> >> Sometimes (usually it happens over weekends) my Exchange 2003 would > >> stop
> >> receiving external emails because of many active "Curresnt Sessions" > >> and
> >> here
> >> is why: our organization isn't big, so I lowered the "Limit number > >> of
> >> connections to:" parameter to 50 (it is done to fight the spam).
> >>
> >> Now when somebody reports that he or she is not getting any > >> "outside"
> >> emails, I go to Exchange System Manager -> Servers ->
> >> <server> ->Protocols ->
> >> SMTP -> Default SMTP Virtual Server - > Current Sessions and I see a
> >> bunch of
> >> ..br, .it, .ar, OHIOIJHOJOJI, etc, user names with connected times
> >> 98353566,
> >> 43543543, 3453453 seconds, or in another words with endless > >> connection
> >> times.
> >>
> >> I understand, that once the exchange reaches the number of > >> connections of
> >> 50, it stops accepting new connections, stops receiving emails and > >> here
> >> is my
> >> qustions:
> >> 1. Why the "Terminate All" command doesn't remedy the problem with > >> email
> >> flow?
> >> As the second option, I try to restart SMTP service, but it freezes > >> in a
> >> stopping mode leaving me with only one option to restart entire > >> server.
> >> (BTW,
> >> I've also noticed that it feezes after I update IMF filter and I > >> need to
> >> restart the server)
> >> 2. what are those connections and how to protect Exchange from them?
> >>
> >> Any advise will be greatly appreciated
>

.

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