Tips on using exmerge

[Haleon]

Hello,

Over the weekend we had a fairly catastrophic Exchange server crash. The information store became corrupt and was unrepairable with eseutil. We restored from a recent backup, and all is fine now. However, this is the third time the server has crashed in about 3 months. The frequency of the crashes has started to worry me, and I have reason to suspect possible hardware faults on the Exchange server hardware.

I spoke to the boss and we ordered a new server for which we are going to install Exchange Server 2000 on. Now I am tasked to export the mailboxes from our current Exchange Server onto the new server. I've read that the exmerge utility is capable of doing this.

One thing I've noticed is that exmerge will eliminate Exhange's single instance storage options, and this will make the information store a good deal larger. What I'm wondering is, on importing the exmerge data back into the new Exchange Server, will the tool reinstate the single instance storage?

The reason I'm asking is because our company only has a license for Exchange 2000 Basic. We have a 16 gig limit on our information store, and we're sitting at about 11.5. After running through the exmerge wizard, the size of the mailboxes exported was expected to be 22.5 gig. If that is the size of the exported files, I won't be able to import them onto the new server without single instance storage. The size of the PST files will be too large for our information store to handle.

Has anyone done something similar to what I'm attempting to do, and if so, is Exchange "smart enough" to reinstate single instance storage upon importing the information back in?

 

[AlexIT]

We set all our clients with batch-file exmerge for backup purposes. It also makes moving to new hardware very easy.

Exmerge will eliminate any single-instance storage, and will not re-link identical items. Duplicates will be created. How many mailboxes you have will determine the final size (more boxes = more duplicates.)

You can use exmerge to only export mail after a certain date, less than a certain size, etc. It is very flexible in the configuration file, but if you are going over 16GB you will have to buy the Advanced server.

In this case, get the users to clean out their boxes, they can drag-drop to folders anything more than 1 (year, month, day) old that they still need. You set exmerge to only export mail after that date. Set restrictive limits on mailbox size on the new Exchange, so they don't drag that stuff back into the IS. We also recommend that users completely delete any e-mail with a file attachment (after saving if necessary) and train them to send links within the company, instead of actual attachments to keep the traffic small. Its faster to send \\server\share\anpolrev.doc than uploading the 200MB annual company policy review and sending it to the thousand people...(except that the links don't work with external clients)

 

[Zelandakh]

If you are migrating to new hardware, use any of the FAQs on doing this. If you do same org, site and server name, you can just drop the priv.edb and pub.edb on the new server and start the services (I've done this successfully many times).

exmerge removes SIS. exmerge to Exchange does not reinstate it. Go to ESM, export to text. Import to Excel and sum the mailboxes. Divide the figures by 1024 not 1000 and calculate the GB. This will be pretty accurate.

Remember that your 11.5GB will include deleted emails if you have DI retension enabled.

<signature for rent>

 

[Haleon]

Thank you very much for the replies guys, I appreciate the tips.

I think I will follow along with the advice of getting users to move emails older than 6 months into personal folders. I know a lot of users seem to have a problem keeping emails forever. I'm also going to push for mailbox limits on the new server (though that's been rejected by management several times in the past. Guess what else has been rejected by management... Exchange 2000 Advanced. Ahhh, the irony)

And Zelandakh, the reason that I'm hesitant to drag and drop the edb files is because I think they may be screwed up. The information store has crashed 3 times in 3 months, and even the copy of the database that I restored from backup was a backup that was taken after the first and second crash. I wanted to kind of start with a fresh database (as much as possible) with the new server.

I also did what you mentioned with the export, and I wound up with an 11.3 gig figure. But when I start the exmerge utility, I'm told that I'll need 22.5 gig of disk space to export all the files. Why the big difference?

 

[Zelandakh]

Document the lack of mailbox limts that you suggested. Similarly the rejection of advanced server. Then press on and do the exmerge...plausible deniability...

No idea on the size difference. Maybe deleted items?

<signature for rent>

 

[netometer]

Hi!
Have you tried to defragment your edb files?
What is the reason that you prefer to use exmerge instead of the much easier move mailboxes?

NetoMeter

http://www.netometer.net

 

[netometer]

PS: I forgot to ask you whether you have run ISINTEG on your public and private information store.

NetoMeter

http://www.netometer.net

 

[AlexIT]

I was able to push limits through management at one client by suggesting different limits for upper management, middle management, and peons...also, the online defrag/integrity scan was starting to take more than 4 hours (so as to impede the server backup.)

Explain that no one will have ANY mail if Exchange crashes, and suggest limits or Advanced Server as the only option, they usually go for one or the other.

 

[nhidalgo]

I had the same issue recently. We installed a new exchange 2k server into the same exchange org and then just moved the users mailboxes to the new server using active directory users and computer "exchange task". This worked great and kept the SIS. Then replicate and rehome the public folders and take the old server out of production. Outlook will automatically reconfigure itself for the new server.

Nick