Exchange Store Groups Test

A Storage Group will contain one or more Mailbox and Public Folder stores, depending on the version and the needs of the organization. Mailbox stores contain the user and system mailboxes and the Public Folder Store contains the Public Folders and their contents. 

A default Exchange installation will create a Storage Group that contains a Mailbox Store and a Public Folder Store.  Each Mailbox Store is made up of a database set that contains two files:

  • Priv1.edb is a rich-text database file that contains the email messages, text attachments and headers for the users e-mail messages
  • Priv1.stm is a streaming file that contains multi-media data that is formatted as MIME data.

Similarly, each Public Folder Store is made up of a database set that also contains two files:

  • Pub1.edb is a rich-text database file that contains the messages, text attachments and headers for files stored in the Public Folder tree.
  • Pub1.stm is a streaming file that contains multi-media data that is formatted as MIME data

For every EDB file there will be an associated STM file.

This test periodically observes the fluctuations in the store group size and the size of the mailbox and public folder stores within. Using the statistics reported by this test, administrators can effectively analyze and accurately predict growth trends and its implications on server performance; based on these inferences, administrators can even initiate, if required, measures to reconfigure the store group so as to prepare it for handling any additional load that is anticipated.

This test is disabled by default. To enable the test, go to the enable / disable tests page using the menu sequence : Agents -> Tests -> Enable/Disable, pick Exchange the desired Component type, set Performance as the Test type, choose the test from the disabled tests list, and click on the < button to move the test to the ENABLED TESTS list. Finally, click the Update button.

Target of the test : An Exchange server 2000/2003

Agent deploying the test : An internal agent

Outputs of the test : One set of results for every store group configured on the specified exchangeserver.

Configurable parameters for the test
Parameters Description

Test Period

How often should the test be executed.

Host

The IP address of the machine where the Exchange Server is installed.

Port

The port number through which the Exchange server communicates.

ExchangeServerName

The name of the Exchange server instance on which the store group(s) to be monitored exists.

Detailed Diagnosis

To make diagnosis more efficient and accurate, the eG Enterprise embeds an optional detailed diagnostic capability. With this capability, the eG agents can be configured to run detailed, more elaborate tests as and when specific problems are detected. To enable the detailed diagnosis capability of this test for a particular server, choose the On option. To disable the capability, click on the Off option.

The option to selectively enable/disable the detailed diagnosis capability will be available only if the following conditions are fulfilled:

  • The eG manager license should allow the detailed diagnosis capability
  • Both the normal and abnormal frequencies configured for the detailed diagnosis measures should not be 0.
Measurements made by the test
Measurement Description Measurement Unit Interpretation

Exchange mailbox store size

Indicates the current size of the mailbox stores within this store group.

MB

If the database size appears to be growing continuously, you might want to consider splitting one large database into multiple smaller databases so as to ease management. 

The detailed diagnosis of the Exchange mailbox store size measure, if enabled, reveals the size of the EDB and STM files within each mailbox store of the monitored store group. A look at this break-up is recommended when the value of this measure shows sudden/steady increase; with the help of this detailed diagnosis information, you can quickly determine the root-cause of the anomaly - is it the EDB file or the STM file? 

Exchange public folder store size

Indicates the current size of the public folder stores within this store group.

MB

If the database size appears to be growing continuously, you might want to consider splitting one large database into multiple smaller databases so as to ease management. 

The detailed diagnosis of the Exchange public folder store size measure, if enabled, reveals the size of the EDB and STM files within each public folder store of the monitored store group. A look at this break-up is recommended when the value of this measure shows sudden/steady increase; with the help of this detailed diagnosis information, you can quickly determine the root-cause of the anomaly - is it the EDB file or the STM file? 

Exchange total storage group size

Indicates the total size of this store group.

MB

This, in effect, is a sum of the Exchange mailbox store size and Exchange public folder store size measures. If you find the value of this measure increasing consistently, you might want to create additional storage groups so that the load is balanced across the groups. On an Exchange 2003 server for instance, up to 4 store groups can be created.

Alternatively, you might also want to consider splitting one large database into multiple smaller databases so as to ease management.