Epoxy memory fragmentation occurs on a heavily used Exchange 2000 computer (315406)

Important This article contains information about modifying the registry. Before you modify the registry, make sure to back it up and make sure that you understand how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For information about how to back up, restore, and edit the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

256986 Description of the Microsoft Windows Registry

SYMPTOMS

Memory on a heavily used Exchange 2000 or Exchange Titanium computer may become fragmented. In addition, memory fragmentation warnings or error messages may be logged in the application event log. The following event ID message is an example of one of the messages that is logged in the application event log:

Event Source: MSExchangeIS
Event Category: Performance
Event ID: 9582
Type: Error
Description: The virtual memory necessary to run your Exchange server is fragmented in such a way that normal operation may begin to fail. It is highly recommended that you restart all Exchange services to correct this issue.

For more information, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://search.support.microsoft.com/search/?adv=1

CAUSE

This issue may occur because of the way that Epoxy memory is allocated. After all of the original memory allocation for Epoxy is used, additional memory is allocated in 64 kilobyte (KB) blocks that may not be contiguous with other free blocks. On a heavily used Exchange 2000 or Exchange Titanium computer, this behavior may contribute to memory fragmentation.

RESOLUTION

Warning If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.
In Exchange Titanium, you can add a new registry key that allows you to control how the additional memory is allocated. However, Microsoft does not recommend that you use the following procedure unless you are experiencing intense memory fragmentation.

Note You cannot make this registry change in Exchange 2000.

Start Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe).
Locate and click the following key in the registry:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\EXIPC\Parameters
Click Add Value on the Edit menu, and then add the following registry value:
Value name: AdditionalReserveSize
Data type: REG_DWORD
Radix: Decimal
Value Data: The new allocation size (in KB)
This value specifies the size (in KB) that each additional allocation occupies in memory. The default setting is 16 MB (16384 decimal) if the key is not present.
Quit Registry Editor.

MORE INFORMATION

The way that additional Epoxy memory is allocated has been changed in Exchange Titanium. After all of the original Epoxy memory block allocations are used, Exchange Titanium and tries to allocate a contiguous 16 megabyte (MB) set of blocks. If this procedure is unsuccessful, Exchange Titanium tries to allocate 16 MB worth of its standard 64 KB blocks.

For additional information about Epoxy, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

260995 Definitions of key transport components in Exchange 2000 Server