XADM: Cannot Determine Free Space Available in Exchange Database

ID: Q186291

The information in this article applies to:

SUMMARY

Microsoft Exchange Server does not include a utility that allows you to determine how much free space is available in an Exchange Server database. Determining how much space is available may help you decide whether an offline defragmentation needs to be performed.


MORE INFORMATION

Microsoft recognizes the need for people to determine how much free space is available in an Exchange Server database. We have modified Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5 so that the amount of free space available in a database is displayed in an event that appears in the event log after an online defragmentation of the database is performed. Note that the online defragmentation is performed automatically during normal information store maintenance. In addition, note that the event appears in the event log even if the associated logging level is set to None.

The following events appear in the event log:

If one of the above events indicates that significant free space is available in the database and you recently performed an operation that may have caused a large number of objects to be removed from the database, you may want to perform an offline defragmentation. The following are some examples of operations that may cause a large number of objects to be removed from the database: To perform an offline defragmentation of the database, perform the following steps.

NOTE: Microsoft recommends that you only perform an offline defragmentation of the database when you have performed an operation that caused a large number of objects to be removed from the database. Performing an offline defragmentation under any other circumstances may actually hurt database performance.
  1. Stop the information store service. To do so, follow these steps:


    1. In Control Panel, double-click Services.


    2. Click the Microsoft Exchange Information Store service, and then click Stop. If a dialog box appears stating that additional services will be stopped, note the services that will be stopped, and then click OK.


  2. To defragment the private information store, type eseutil /d /ispriv at a command prompt, and then press ENTER.

    To defragment the public information store, type eseutil /d /ispub at a command prompt, and then press ENTER.


  3. Start the information store service. To do so, follow these steps:


    1. In Control Panel, double-click Services.


    2. Click the Microsoft Exchange Information Store service, and then click Start.


  4. Start any additional services that were stopped in step 1.


  5. Perform a full online backup of the information store databases.



This feature is included in the latest Microsoft Exchange Server version 5.5 U.S. service pack. For information on obtaining the service pack, query on the following word in the Microsoft Knowledge Base (without the spaces):
S E R V P A C K

For additional information, please see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
Q178931 XADM: Database Size After Offline Defrag Not Same as Total K
Q181824 XADM: Jet Doesn't Detect Removed Page in B-tree Split Operation
Q183888 XADM: Free Disk Space Requirements For Eseutil.exe
Q185271 XADM: Orphaned LV Errors Running ESEUTIL Consistency Checker

Additional query words: off-line defrag eseutil /d 


Keywords          : 
Version           : winnt:5.5
Platform          : winnt 
Issue type        : kbinfo

Last Reviewed: April 9, 1999