Don't forget goodies like cc:Mail (where the PO's could live equally well on a NetWare, NT, or Unix boxes and talk to each other quite nicely)
And servers that didn't require a reboot every time you loaded a new NLM and stayed up months at a time (I had one that ran for 18 months straight w/o a single hiccup) Yeah, things are much better now.. -----Original Message----- From: Lefkovics, William [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Friday, October 19, 2001 3:18 PM To: MS-Exchange Admin Issues Subject: RE: Database size Yes? Some of us are still stuck in those days. -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Friday, October 19, 2001 12:15 PM To: MS-Exchange Admin Issues Subject: RE: Database size ah yes, the happy days of Cheyenne and Novell..... -Michèle Immigration site: <http://LadySun1969.tripod.com> Our new 2001 Miata: <http://members.cardomain.com/bpituley> Tiggercam: <http://www.tiggercam.co.uk> --------------------------------------------------------- "Pinky, are you pondering what I'm pondering?" "I think so, Brain, but if the plural of mouse is mice, wouldn't the plural of spouse be spice?" --------------------------------------------------------- -----Original Message----- From: Don Ely [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Friday, October 19, 2001 1:16 PM To: MS-Exchange Admin Issues Subject: RE: Database size The last time I remember any kind of success with ArcServe was when Computer Associates didn't own it and it was running on Novell. Ever since Computer Associates got involved, it has become unreliable garbage. So as far as my experience has been.... IT SUCKS! -----Original Message----- From: Crouthamel, Jonathan [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Friday, October 19, 2001 10:16 AM To: MS-Exchange Admin Issues Subject: RE: Database size You mention ArcserveIT. What has your experience been with the product. Mine has been nothing short of consistent pain and frustration. I believe I have gone through all of their upgrades with the hope that the new version will be the fix all. I actually remember them referring to the 2K ver. as the "Holy Grail". Not so I tell you...:( JC -----Original Message----- From: Don Ely [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Friday, October 19, 2001 12:50 PM To: MS-Exchange Admin Issues Subject: RE: Database size Well I wouldn't say I prefer BE. I'd say whatever is cost effective for you. ArcWreckIt is not cost effective anytime to anyone in my opinion. Although, there are those that have somehow been successful with it. NT Backup works just fine. It depends on the needs of your company. You'll want to address all of the data you backup, not just exchange and restorability will also need to be taken into account. With exchange, I perform online backups nightly. You might want to check out the DR whitepapers on the MS site for clarification. Any other questions... Ask away. D -----Original Message----- From: Julie Lienemann [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Friday, October 19, 2001 9:31 AM To: MS-Exchange Admin Issues Subject: RE: Database size What are your backup suggestions? I notice you refer to Backup Exec, online backups etc. Thanks Julie -----Original Message----- From: Don Ely [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Friday, October 19, 2001 8:05 AM To: MS-Exchange Admin Issues Subject: RE: Database size 400 users or a 1000 users, it doesn't particularly matter. If you have the disk space, leave the database alone. As an example, a rater recent one I might add, I ran eseutil (the hard repair) on a DB the other night. Now granted, they didn't have any backups so they were already up sh!t creek without a paddle. When all was said and done, they wound up losing emails and some attachments. This utility is a very nasty beast, so one should exercise extreme caution when running it. Of course, they now have fully functional and reliable backups. For some reason, some lovely admin thought you should use BE with the Exchange Agent, backup all of the exchsrvr directories, do the online backups, do brick level backups, and last but not least have circular logging enabled. Needless to say, sparks were shooting out of mine eyes... -----Original Message----- From: Nick Bradford [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Friday, October 19, 2001 12:37 AM To: MS-Exchange Admin Issues Subject: RE: Database size err - we were supporting in excess of 400 users on one box If you have a fairly static environment then there is no reason that the db would blow out... The original mail that sparked all this described a situation where 50 odd mailboxes had been removed from the store and the db did not shrink. This is to be expected because the online defrag cannot reclaim white space from the db. The only way to reclaim that space (should you want to :) ) is to run an offline. Nick -----Original Message----- From: Sean Martin [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Friday, October 19, 2001 5:27 PM To: MS-Exchange Admin Issues Subject: RE: Database size 60+ users, running Exchange 5.5 std edition for about 4 years. Never once ran an offline defrag. I've got about 16mb white space in my priv.edb and about 4mb in my pub.edb. Online maintenance seems to be doing a pretty good job in our environment. Regards, Sean Martin, MCSE Network Administrator Ribelin Lowell & Company Insurance Brokers, Inc. 3111 C Street, Suite 300 Anchorage, Alaska 99503 Ph: (907) 561-1250 Fax: (907) 561-4315 Cell: (907) 229-0885 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] -----Original Message----- From: Nick Bradford [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Thursday, October 18, 2001 11:15 PM To: MS-Exchange Admin Issues Subject: RE: Database size hehe - I think so - by regular I meant occuring at a (reasonably) regular interval. ie every 6 months or so - which when I was admining a 5.5 site - was how often I took the servers offline for a few hours to defrag. regular <> everyday!!... - (I think my users would be a little stroppy if I was doing an offline every night :) ) -----Original Message----- From: Sean Martin [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Friday, October 19, 2001 5:06 PM To: MS-Exchange Admin Issues Subject: RE: Database size Nick, Here's the first paragraph in your original email..... >>Offline defrag is necessary regular maintenance task, and if your DB >>fills the disk at any time youll be jumping through very similar hoops >>to recover your exchange box. Perhaps we miss understood? Sean -----Original Message----- From: Nick Bradford [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Thursday, October 18, 2001 9:08 PM To: MS-Exchange Admin Issues Subject: RE: Database size Point taken re only if you have the 16Gb limit, however the points to writing that post were not specific to the defrag issue and I believe are still pertinent (sorry about rehashing old material - I joined the list yesterday. Ill keep my mouth shut now...) 1 - Any Admin performing any task other than the ordinary every day maintenance (and I dont believe I mentioned that an Offline Defrag was everyday maintenance :) ) should be absolutely sure that they have a valid backup, and are familiar with their sites DRP practices. 2 - Reread step 1 (I suspect I dont have to point out that 110% is a figure of speech) 3 - People reading and contributing to this list will get more out of it if we actually provide detailed and concise info, rather than choose not to because of the possibility of the misuse of that information. Everyone should be aware that not everything posted is correct or properly articulated (as I just proved) and if they choose to use suggestions from the list they should ensure that they have a fallback position ALWAYS! (And I dont think I implied that all information regarding eseutil was available on technet either - merely how to perform an offline defrag.) Neway - this is quite of topic now, so thanks for your feedback Don and William - I trust you understand the light in which I made my comments. Nick -----Original Message----- X-Sybari-Space: 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 From: Don Ely [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Friday, October 19, 2001 2:36 PM To: MS-Exchange Admin Issues Subject: RE: Database size Since William is having troubles sending to the list, I have forwarded his reply at his request. -----Original Message----- From: Lefkovics, William Sent: Thursday, October 18, 2001 4:41 PM To: 'MS-Exchange Admin Issues' Subject: RE: Database size >>Offline defrag is necessary regular maintenance task No it isn't. >>never make a change or perform any task of significance without being 110% sure I typically stop at 100. >>Building an exchange box and recovering the info stores should take no where near a weekend if your DRP policies are accurate and tested Absolutely. A typical install of 5.5 with a 10GB Info Store should be recovered in a few hours. >>Additionally information regarding using eseutil to defrag priv.edb is freely available in technet Actually, all the information on eseutil is not freely available. There are a few switches and applications PSS doesn't make public. William Lefkovics, MCSE, A+, ExchangeMVP -----Original Message----- From: Nick Bradford [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Thursday, October 18, 2001 4:34 PM To: MS-Exchange Admin Issues Subject: RE: Database size Er, are we exchange admins or users...? Offline defrag is necessary regular maintenance task, and if your DB fills the disk at any time youll be jumping through very similar hoops to recover your exchange box. Like always - never make a change or perform any task of significance without being 110% sure of having a valid backup (im paranoid - I always make sure I have two.) Building an exchange box and recovering the info stores should take no where near a weekend if your DRP policies are accurate and tested (and of course they are!) Additionally information regarding using eseutil to defrag priv.edb is freely available in technet - MS dont suppose it to to complex a task that you should contact PSS to find out how to do it. A list like this is not going to be very useful to people if we all mollycoddle each other and choose what information we disseminate based on our audiences supposed intelligence level. my $0.02 -----Original Message----- From: John O'Connor [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Friday, October 19, 2001 12:59 AM To: MS-Exchange Admin Issues Subject: RE: Database size Very Good Advice. I spent the entire weekend rebuilding my exchange from back up and using eseutil before finding out just how dangerous this actually was. I came througn unscathed, but it was my wild irish luck that got me through it not my brains. -----Original Message----- From: Don Ely [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Thursday, October 18, 2001 9:56 AM To: MS-Exchange Admin Issues Subject: RE: Database size Do we really want to be suggesting that without directing them to PSS? I might run it and you might run it, but what if this guy isn't as savvy as we are and he breaks his server? Eseutil is a dangerous tool that should only be used when extremely necessary. Personally, I'd leave it the way it is. When you hire more people and you receive more email that white space in the database is just going to fill up anyway. Let exchange run its course and you will be a happy admin. Start mucking around with utilities you know little about and you nor your boss will be very happy. D -----Original Message----- From: Neil Hobson [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Thursday, October 18, 2001 6:49 AM To: MS-Exchange Admin Issues Subject: RE: Database size Normal behaviour. You need to do an offline defrag, i.e. eseutil. Neil -----Original Message----- From: Gene Nykolyshyn [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Posted At: 18 October 2001 14:49 Posted To: Sunbelt Exchange List Conversation: Database size Subject: Database size After deleting hundreds of old accounts, the "priv.edb" actually grew in size. Any insights? List Charter and FAQ at: http://www.sunbelt-software.com/exchange_list_charter.htm ********************************************************************** This eMail and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual to whom it is addressed. Any view or opinions presented are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Silversands or any of its subsidiary companies. 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