XADM: Private Information Store Has High Disk Size Item Numbers (183057)

SYMPTOMS

When you click an Exchange Server, version 5.5, in the left pane of the Microsoft Exchange Administrator program, get Properties for the private information store, and click the Mailbox Resources tab, you may see exceptionally high disk space size occupied by unfamiliar mailbox names. For example, a mailbox called Admin or Internet Mail Service may occupy a disk space of 40,967 KB with 520 items. When you check the Internet Mail Service queues, you find them empty or with very few items.

CAUSE

The Internet Mail Service uses MAPI in much the same way as do user clients, for delivering and receiving messages to and from the information store. Exchange creates seven mailboxes when it is started; one of them is for the Internet Mail Service. These mailboxes are not valid users' mailboxes, and you cannot create a profile or log on as one of those mailboxes. These mailboxes are for regular message transactions.

Exchange Server version 5.5 has optimized the way the information store works with connectors and gateways by using these mailboxes. That the Exchange Administrator program, however, does not "maintain" current counters for such mailboxes is the expected behavior of the this function. When the connector's queues are empty, the messages are not using additional disk space; we only commit the transactions to the local Information Store that have originated from or are destined for our local store.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Microsoft Exchange Server version 5.5. This problem has been corrected in the latest U.S. Service Pack for Microsoft Exchange Server version 5.5. For information about obtaining the Service Pack, query on the following word in the Microsoft Knowledge Base (without the spaces):

S E R V P A C K

MORE INFORMATION

After you apply the fix, the information store attempts to determine whether each mailbox listed on the Mailbox Resources tab is a connector mailbox. If the information store is able to determine that a mailbox is a connector mailbox, it lists a 0 (zero) in the Total K and Total No. Items columns for that mailbox.

Connector mailboxes are mailboxes used by connectors to send and receive messages. The following Exchange Server 5.5 connectors use this type of mailbox to send and receive messages:

Connector for Lotus cc:Mail
Internet Mail Service
Notes Connector, SNADS Connector, and PROFS Connector

Some other Exchange Server connectors send and receive messages by communicating directly with the message transfer agent (MTA). These connectors include the X.400 Connector and the Microsoft Mail Connector.

For additional information about a similar problem in which the Mailbox Resources tabreports information that appears inaccurate, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

152458 XADM: Mailbox Resources Reporting Usage Not Seen by Client

On rare occasions, disk space counters for regular users, other than these seven mailboxes, may also become inaccurate. This would indicate a problem with the Mailbox or with the Information Store; ISInteg has been known to correct many of these issues.