As another weekend approaches, so does that time when many Exchange administrators think about the need to defrag Exchange database, and if they're smart, some good Exchange defrag software.
Now, Exchange performs, on its own, some basic defragmentation. But here I'm referring to Exchange offline defragmentation. Offline defragmentation and subsequent compaction of your Exchange Server data stores allow the operating system to reclaim disk space occupied by deleted data. How does this happen?
As users delete e-mails, the Exchange Server software frees up the space within the data stores where those e-mails reside, but never returns actual on-disk storage space to the operating system. The resulting data store never shrinks in size, whereas smaller data stores equate with expedient backups and more efficient disk utilization. If an Exchange data store starts to consume increasingly large quantities of disk space, the only way to reclaim those resources is to perform an offline defragmentation and compaction pass.
Now, an Exchange administrator can do this via the ESEUTIL utility, but it's a cumbersome and time-consuming task. There's a lot of manual commands and entering of data that is prone to user error. Which is why we developed PerfectDisk Exchange to automate the process and save Exchange administrators time -- lots of time. PerfectDisk Exchange enables you to automatically shut down an Exchange Server, then copies selected data stores to local or remote volumes, and compacts and optimizes volumes. You can also return data stores to their applicable Exchange directories and restart Exchange Server either through the user interface or via a scheduled event. On Exchange 2000, 2003, 2007 and 2010, selected data stores are dismounted and no services need be stopped. This leaves your mail server available to other data stores it may manage.
A question we often hear is "how much free space is needed to perform an Exchange defrag?" The answer is 110%.
When your data store is being defragmented, a copy is made and defragmented, then copied back to the location of the active information store. In order to create this temporary working copy of the data store, there needs to be sufficient space on your hard drive. The process requires free space equal to 110% of the size of the data store. By default, the boot drive (i.e., the drive containing the WinSystem folder) will be used.
There's a way to defrag Exchange without all the aggravation and without all the time - with the proper Exchange defrag software.
Matt Genereux, IT Specialist for Freedom Reporting in Birmingham, Alabama, is not atypical when it comes to Microsoft Exchange and what is required to defrag Exchange database. In many cases, when the time comes, it's a lost weekend, fighting with the Eseutil utility to manually defragment and compact his company's Exchange data stores.
No more. Matt picked up a copy of PerfectDisk 10 Exchange and where before "I spent all weekend defragging Exchange, PerfectDisk Exchange has saved him several days already."
Now, to defrag Exchange is a "no brainer" for Matt....weekends reclaimed.
As commuters headed into Washington DC, Baltimore and surrounding areas this morning, they were receiving confirmation of the news that will surely paralyze these cities that don't "do" snow well, if even a little less so because the weekend is almost here. The biggest snowstorm since 2003 is scheduled to arrive sometime after midnight tonight. Now, our friends to the north in both the U.S. and around the world might be amused at what is being called a major storm. The lower end of the estimates are around 5 inches, but I've seen higher end guesstimates up to 15 inches....that's a legitimate storm, right?!
One thing we'll be sure of is that PerfectDisk Exchange administrators in the area -- of which there are many, from government agencies to the private sector -- won't need to worry about the snow as they defrag Exchange and perform offline defrags of their Exchange databases. A lot of them perform this task on weekends. With PerfectDisk Exchange, the process is automated and can all be done remotely.
For Exchange administrators, you can have it all -- defrag Exchange database and play in the snow -- or elsewhere.
Writing on TechRepublic a couple of weeks ago, Erik Eckel covered 10 things you can do to keep Exchange running smoothly. Naturally, I was intrigued to see 20% of his list for keeping Exchange running smoothly was defragmentation specific. Now, to properly defrag Exchange, there are two aspects -- online and offline -- and Erik hits them both.
For background, Erik is a managing partner at Louisville Geek and president of Eckel Media Corp. He previously served as Executive Editor at CNET Networks' TechRepublic.
Number 3 on Erik's list reads as follows:
Review defragmentation operations
Exchange servers include default online maintenance operations, which are typically scheduled during off hours. Among the tasks the automated maintenance operations perform are transaction log management and database integrity checks and defragmentation.
When database checks begin, Exchange notes the event using ID 700 within application log files. When full online defragmentation passes complete within allotted time, Event ID 701 is recorded. If a full online defragmentation is interrupted, such as by a backup operation, Event ID 704 is recorded. When interrupted maintenance operations ultimately complete, Event ID 703 is written within the server’s application log.
Administrators should regularly review the server’s event logs to confirm that these operations are completing without error. While failures typically appear within daily performance reports, manually reviewing these records helps ensure failures are not overlooked.
Number 9 on Erik's list is the following:
Defragment database stores using Eseutil
Not necessarily for the faint of heart, Eseutil is Microsoft’s utility for manually defragmenting Exchange information stores and directories offline, going all the way back to Exchange version 5.5. The utility should not be used before first creating and verifying an Exchange backup.
Defragmenting an Exchange store typically improves performance by contiguously locating storage data, eliminating unused storage, and compacting the Exchange database. I’ve even seen Eseutil recover failed or corrupted Exchange stores on Small Business Servers.
Running the Eseutil command with the /c switch performs a restore operation, while running the command with the /d switch instructs the system to defragment the .edb database and leave the new defragmented database in a temporary location without overwriting the original database. Using the /d switch with the /p switch adds repair operation. Running the command with the /g switch simply verifies the logical integrity of the Exchange database. Numerous other switches are available, and you can research them online.
I especially like Erik's comment that Eseutil is not necessarily for the faint of heart. Indeed. This is really what led us to develop PerfectDisk Exchange. Eseutil can be a bear, and several years ago our Exchange administrator spent much of a weekend using, playing fighting it. The result of that frustration was PerfectDisk Exchange, which automates the defragmentation and compaction of Exchange databases via Eseutil. It's a huge time saver (and aggravation saver) for administrators looking to perform their offline defrag Exchange database.
And while Erik correctly points out the performance benefits, we hear regularly from users who have recaptured lots of disk space. We run PerfectDisk Exchange regularly here at Raxco, and we're always recapturing several gigabytes of space. Without the PerfectDisk Exchange tool, it's too cumbersome and the defrag Exchange job just wouldn't be done as frequently.
Defrag Exchange today to keep it running smoothly -- and more.
When looking to Windows defrag software for Windows 7, there are various defrag programs to choose from and decisions you need to make. Do you want to be able to do a boot time defrag in order to defrag metadata? Is free space consolidation important? Do you want to boot quicker? Are you running any disk cleanup tools? Are you going to defrag Exchange databases?
There may be many more questions and requirements. Or your list for choosing between defrag programs might be short and sweet - you want a faster computer. One criteria that many people look for is certification from Microsoft. To some, it's just a "feel good" thing. To others, it's critical. And to some, it means nothing.
To us, it's important. We know there are many people that look to certification from Microsoft. And we know that many businesses have a requirement that they will only run certified applications. So PerfectDisk is certified by Microsoft for Windows 7.
In reviewing a disk defrag program, you might ask yourself why a particular product is not certified by Microsoft. For example, one area that Microsoft focuses on is overly-intrusive installations and snap-ins to the operating system - if a disk defragmentation tool is overly intrusive, Microsoft won't cerify the product. Look, with all the positive feedback Microsoft has garnered from Windows 7, it is not about to put a stamp of approval on an application that takes away from the positive user experience people are receiving from the new OS. Microsoft also made changes to the boot process in Windows 7, and we modified PerfectDisk to address these changes.
So one can choose to tell the world that certification doesn't matter and the fact that a program just works with Windows 7 is good enough.
We choose a different path for our users -- no risk.
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