Max Size Mailbox Exchange 2007

[boein]

Hi,

I want to know if there are limitations in mailbox size on an exchange 2007 server. Is it possible to have mailboxes over 10 Gb, will it work, will it decrease the server's performance or will it make the server unstable.
Anyboy idea's?

Thanks
Boein

 

[Zelandakh]

Yes there are limitations (in fact I covered this subject yesterday - try searching) but nothing you will hit.

Mailboxes over 10GB? Sure, no problem.

Decrease server performance? A little but a properly specified server will not decrease noticeably. A Celeron box with 2GB of RAM and 1,000 users will not perform adequately.

Server unstable? Nope.

 

[xmsre]

The performance degradation with large mailboxes is really related to the number of items in a given folder and not the overall size of the items. As the number of items in a folder approaches 5000, the size of the 11 default views increases to the point where they are no longer retained in the DB cache; they must be generated on the fly each time you view the folder.

For online mode clients this means increased IO on the exchange server. For cached mode clients, it means increased IO on the client (when you're in chached mode the read IO doesn't go away, it's just shifted to the client).

The overall size of the mailbox, combined with MS recommended limits on store size, determines how many users you can put on a given store and the overall scalability (scale up) of a given mailbox server. You can always scale out (add more mailbox servers). Larger mailboxes generally mean more mailbox server, more licenses, more storage, bigger backups, and higher costs/user for your messaging environment.

 

[texeric]

xmsre hit the nail on the head. The overall MB size isn't key to the MB or store performance as much as the item count in the default folders for the MB. For instance if there are over 5000 items in the Deleted Items, Inbox, Sent Items, Calendar folders that would impact not only the MB performance but also the store performance where the MB is hosted.

Large MB size=no problem. Large item count in default folders=becomes a problem not only for the MB itself but also for other MB's that are hosted on the same store.

http://www.theviagroup.com

 

[58sniper]

And you can set up policies to move the mail out of those key folders, and a GPO to empty the deleted items when exiting Outlook. Those usually go a long way towards keeping things happy.

Pat Richard
Microsoft Exchange MVP

 

[boein]

Thank's guys for your feedback.

One last question, if number of items must not exceed 5000 in your main-folders (inbox, deleted items...) is this also true for other custom folders. And what about calendar items?

regards
Boein

 

[58sniper]

You really need to watch the key folders, such as Inbox, Calendar, etc.

Pat Richard
Microsoft Exchange MVP

 

[Zelandakh]

Though a well spec'd server and infrastructure will allow that 5,000 to increase IME.

I'm seeing good performance significantly above that figure.