Microsoft Exchange 2016 / 2013 / 2010 / 2007 / 2003 Offline Defrag
There is no requirement of running an Exchange Offline defrag in versions 2016 / 2013 / 2010 / 2007 / 2003 Enterprise. All editions enable the creation of another mailbox for storage purpose. Once you are having another mailbox, simply move mailboxes from fragmented store to new. This will render a full defragmented and an error-free email store, which comprises of a bonus with zero downtime.
There is a database limit in the standard edition of Exchange 2003, which can be extended up to 75GB. People have an assumption that simply implementing Exchange offline defragmentation in their database reduces the database size. But, this is not true. 75GB is a soft limit, which is dependent on logical database size, not physical.
In order to calculate the logical database size, add EDB and STM file size and then, minus them with the free space. This free space can be determined from Event 1221 of Application Event Log. As per the default settings, Microsoft Exchange 2003 runs online maintenance every day around 5 a.m. This is an online defrag in Microsoft Exchange database.
When the maintenance process gets finished, an Event 1221 gets created in the log of the Application event. For each store, there is one event. The detail says that “\ ()” is having MB free space with the termination of online defragmentation. This helps administrators in determining an amount of space freed up in Exchange database file, which does not comprise of STM file.
Creating White Space in MS Exchange While Exchange offline Defrag 2016 / 2013 / 2010 Process
White space is the free space reported by the Event 1221. Before expanding the physical database size, this is used by the Exchange server. When database size is finished with the 75GB limit, you need to generate a free space. This brings the logical database size below the specified limit. The simplest way of creating white space is to delete waste mailboxes and command users to archive a few emails or remove them, which are no longer essential.
It is a time taking the procedure to get free space because it is dependent upon the retention period of the deleted mailbox. You can speed up the procedure by settings retention period to 0. This will enable you in alleviating a rapid issue.
The respective action in the Exchange server will lead to permanent deletion of items without sending them to the dumpster. This means that there will be no chance to restore a single mailbox in Exchange 2010 when they get deleted with 0 retention period settings
When Exchange Offline Defrag 2016 / 2013 / 2010 Come into Existence?
When there is a problem with the physical server storage, you should opt for offline defrag to regain the free space, which is reported by Event 1221. Refer following guidelines when you decide using offline defragmentation in the Exchange server :
- Open command prompt window and set the folder path to “C:\Program Files\Exchsrvr\Bin”. This path needs to be the same for the entire process
- Either go for Microsoft Windows Backup or use third party software to backup Exchange information store. Check that you are taking backup of entire Microsoft Exchange data and all transaction log files are flushed.
- When you are done with the backup procedure, dismount the store. Now create a copy of Exchange database files i.e., EDB and STM files, on another hard disk.
Note – Exchange offline defrag procedure requires the minimum of 110% of store size in free space. It means that additional 83GB free space is needed when the store is of 75GB. - If the required free space is not available then, shift the temporary database to a separate volume with help of ESEUTIL /d “C:\Program Files\Exchsrvr\MDBDATA\Priv1.edb” /tD:\Priv1Temp.edb command
- Begin the defragmentation procedure by executing ESEUTIL /d “C:\Program Files\Exchsrvr\MDBDATA\Priv1.edb” command in the cmd prompt screen.
Note: During offline defragmentation process or before, if the Exchange database file is severely damaged/corrupted then you can use the advanced software provided by SysTools i.e. Exchange Server Recovery Software which recover & repair corrupt Exchange mailbox and EDB file with no data loss.
The Quick and Advance scan mode option of this recovery manager for Exchange database utility easily recover mailbox from Exchange database and repair Exchange public folder database. After recovery, the user can export the recovered offline/dismounted Exchange database mailboxes to the Live Exchange Server, O365, and PST, EML, HTML, MBOX, MSG, PDF file format.
Final Words
Note down that Exchange offline defrag procedure will work at the rate of 4-7 GB per hour. It is so because completion of the process is dependent upon the server specification and other extra activities going on. Suppose there is an 80GB file then, it might consume up to 20 hours (even more) to exhibit offline defrag. Rest, for the time being, users will be unable to work with the Exchange server until and unless the entire procedure doesn’t get finished. To resolve the corruption issue in the EDB file users can use the automated wizard mentioned in the above section that easily removes corruption from offline Exchange database file without losing any data.
