When I offline defrag my Mailbox Store the STM file gets bigger! The file priv.STM is now 18GB and the sum of all mailboxes is less than 3GB. I stop trying to compact the file (via eseutil) because my logical drive is running out of space. How can I "really" reduce de priv.STM file? Many Thanks

Hi, Its due the while space in database, have a look into this Eventcode = 1221, it has details for free space in database, you might have to run offline defra for the databases try eseutil with -d switch. Here's a KB about it http://support.microsoft.com/kb/192185 Ripu Daman Mina | MCSE 2003 & MCSA Messaging

Hello, I have tried the offline defragmentation ESEUTIL -d for both EDB and STM with no success as reported. Now the event ID 1221 reports: - 1668MB of free space for Mailbox Store and - 10MB of free space for Public Folder Store The gained space is very little [current sizes: EDB(3GB) STM (18GB)]. We use local PST files. Many Thanks

Hi, STM is steaming file database it only grows when a lot of user are using POP3 account or if there are lot of mails with attachment, so defrag again it will reduce 1.5 Gb or more disk space. Ripu Daman Mina | MCSE 2003 & MCSA Messaging

Hi, OK, but after the defrag the STM will still be 16GB ou so... when I browse the Mailboxes in Exchange System Manager, the sum of all mailboxes is around 1,5GB only. How can I explain a 16GB STM file and a 3GB EDB file? Is it possible to explore those files to see what are the contents and eliminate what is not needed? Our policy is to use local PST files, and by this reason the space stored in the server should tend to zero (or, at most, to the size of the sum of all mailboxes), is this correct? Many Thanks

Hi, Where are two workaround in this situation: 1) if you have enterprise version then, create a new database & move the mailbox to that database & delete this one. 2) if you have standard edition then user emerge to export mailboxes, delete the database, create new one & export the mailboxes again, in both case you might need some down time. I can't explain why .stm fine is haveing such a huge size, but the size increased is due to the fact that it store all the non mapi client info, in your case it might be due to that all these user using ether pop3 or Imap for mail access Ripu Daman Mina | MCSE 2003 & MCSA Messaging

I have Standard 2003 Edition of Exchange. How can I export the mailboxes using this version? Were can I find the tool "emerge" above? Thanks

Hi, Have a look into this article : http://www.petri.co.il/download_exmerge.htmRipu Daman Mina | MCSE 2003 & MCSA Messaging

Unfortuantely all of the above answers are incorrect. There is nothing wrong with your database, it does not need an offline defrag, nor is the space difference due to the white space in the database. Doing an offline defrag or anything like that is a complete waste of time. The simple fact is that the list of mailboxes will NEVER add up to anything near to the size of your database. This is due to a number of factors, the main one being that ESM doesn't show you the true size of the mailbox. "When you view the space that a mailbox uses in Exchange System Manager, the amount only includes the space that is used by the Priv.edb file. The amount does not include the space that the Priv.stm file uses." http://support.microsoft.com/kb/828070/ I have outlined this in more detail on a blog posting here: http://blog.sembee.co.uk/post/Exchange-Database-Size-and-Limits.aspx Why are you using PST files? It does mean that most of the functionality of Exchange is useless. It is far better to store the data in Exchange, it also is more efficent on storage and you get the full functionality of the product. PST files also break, bloat (100mb of email in Exhcange can be 300mb of email in a PST file) and are almost impossible to backup in a way that will provide recovery. Due to their nature a corruption can go unnoticed for months. As for the reason why your store is at 18gb, which is the default limit on Exchange 2003, given how you are using Exchange, you probably have a large amount of white space in the store. Look for event ID 1221 overnight. Furthermore, if you aren't backing up the server correctly, or the server is not being allowed to complete its overnight maintainance, then the white space isn't being created correctly, so the database will continue to increase. The physical size of the Exchange database will NEVER decrease. It could be that the server requires some attention, configuration review and setup correctly. Dropping the use of PST files will also help. SimonSimon Butler, Exchange MVP. http://blog.sembee.co.uk , http://exbpa.com/

Hi, Thanks for for increasing the knowledge & sorry if I have suggested something wrong. Ripu Daman Mina | MCSE 2003 & MCSA Messaging

Hi! "When you view the space that a mailbox uses in Exchange System Manager, the amount only includes the space that is used by the Priv.edb file. The amount does not include the space that the Priv.stm file uses." This makes sense in my infrastruture, being the EDB 3GB large and the event 1221 reporting 1.5GB of white space, as the sum of the mailboxes in ESM around 1.5GB. But how can I reset the space used by the STM (18GB)? (Keeping the schema) - assuming that the information there is not important. TIA

Does the amount of white space change over time? You should be seeing 1221 each night so unless your server is seriously logging heavily, you should be able to go back a little white to check. Is the server being backed up using an Exchange aware backup application? If you look at the properties of the database, does it report the last backup time as expected? There are any number of things that could be stopping the white space from being marked as such, and the major one could be that you have so much white space that Exchange isn't able to process it all in one night. It might reach the point where the best option is to build a temporary Exchange server on another piece of hardware, move the mailboxes to that machine (if your data is only around 3or 4gb then that shouldn't take long), then drop the original database and delete the files, and create a new database. You can then move the mailboxes back. That will be quicker than doing an offline defrag, and is completely risk free. Simon.Simon Butler, Exchange MVP. http://blog.sembee.co.uk , http://exbpa.com/

Hi, Or you can use exmerge to export mailboxes, delete the database, create new one & import the mailboxes again by exmerge, for more details, have a look into this article : http://www.petri.co.il/download_exmerge.htm Ripu Daman Mina | MCSE 2003 & MCSA Messaging

Hi, Or you can use exmerge to export mailboxes, delete the database, create new one & import the mailboxes again by exmerge, for more details, have a look into this article : http://www.petri.co.il/download_exmerge.htm That is going to cause significant disruption, as mailboxes will have to be recreated and may well cause issues with nicknames and things like that. It really should be the last option when nothing else can be done. Simon.Simon Butler, Exchange MVP. http://blog.sembee.co.uk , http://exbpa.com/

Hi rm_PT, A good blog about stm sharing with you. Information on the Exchange 2000 Exchange 2003 .stm file. http://bobchristian.blogspot.com/2005/10/information-on-exchange-2000-exchange.htmlFrank Wang