How to add public folder stores (319587)

SUMMARY

Exchange 2000 Server Enterprise Edition has a major advantage over Exchange 5.5 Server because Exchange 2000 permits you to create multiple storage groups, each containing one or more public folder stores. This gives you greater flexibility if you implement public folders, particularly with Web-based clients and custom implementations of Web Storage System, which can use multiple public folder stores.

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Requirements

The following items describe the recommended hardware, software, network infrastructure, skills and knowledge, and service packs to complete the procedures that are described in this article:

• Microsoft Windows 2000 Server running Service Pack 3 (SP3)
• Active Directory directory service
• Exchange 2000 Server Enterprise Edition running SP3
• Prior knowledge of the Exchange System Manager
• Prior knowledge of transactional tracking logs and databases

To configure storage groups and databases, you have to complete the following procedures:

1. Plan storage groups and public folder stores.
2. Create a new public folder tree.
3. Create a new storage group.
4. Create a new public folder store.

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Plan Storage Groups and Public Folder Stores

Like Exchange Server 5.5, Exchange 2000 supports public folder stores, which are used as the storage repository for messages, contacts, tasks, and calendar items that are held in public folders. If you use Web Storage System to store files in public folders by using the Installable File System (IFS), the files reside in these public folder stores.

In Exchange 2000 Enterprise Edition, you can have up to four storage groups, each with up to five stores. These stores can be either mailbox stores or public folder stores. This means that each computer that is running Exchange 2000 can have a total of twenty storage databases.

Each group of databases in a storage group shares the same set of transactional tracking logs. However, each database in a storage group can have its database files in a different location, which can also be separate from the transactional tracking log files. Note that functions such as circular logging are turned on at the storage group level.

The main issue to consider when you create a public folder store is that you must create a new public folder tree in which to host the new store. Unlike mailbox stores, you cannot just create public folder stores.

The other issue to consider is that MAPI clients, such as Microsoft Outlook, can see only one public folder tree. This tree is typically the default public folder tree that is created when you install Exchange 2000. As a result, your Outlook users do not benefit from more than one public folder store. However, you can use the new public folder tree with Web-based clients.

You also have to determine the location of your transactional tracking log files and public folder store files. Consider the following principles:

• Both transactional tracking log files and public folder store files should be on fault-tolerant partitions such as RAID1, RAID5, or RAID0+1.
• Microsoft recommends that you put transactional tracking log files and public folder store files on separate partitions and arrange them so that the failure of a single disk does not affect both the log files and the databases.
• To carry out in-place restores, database volumes must have free disk space equal to 110 percent of the size of the database.
• Exchange 2000 runs a single instance of the Extensible Storage Engine (ESE) for each storage group. When multiple ESE instances are created, the memory that is consumed increases. Because of this, you should always completely fill a storage group with databases before you create another storage group.
• Remember that deleted item retention period means that deleted items are not removed from the database until the retention time has elapsed.

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Create a New Public Folder Tree

When you create new public folder stores, you have to create a public folder tree to host the store. If you do not create a public folder tree, you receive a message that indicates that all public folder stores are associated with public folder trees. To create a public folder tree, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Microsoft Exchange, and then click System Manager.
2. Right-click Folders, point to New, and then click Public Folder Tree.
3. In the Name box, type the name of the new public folder tree.NOTE: No public stores are associated with this tree because you have not yet created the public store.
   
   
4. Click OK to add the new public folder tree.

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Create a New Storage Group

You can create a separate storage group to host the new public folder store. You can also put the new public folder store in an existing storage group. To create a new storage group, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Microsoft Exchange, and then click System Manager.
2. In the left pane, double-click Servers.
3. Right-click the server on which you want to create the new storage group, point to New, and then click Storage Group.
4. In the Name box, type the name of the storage group.NOTE: When you enter the name, the Transaction log location and System path location are entered automatically. By default, the location is C:\Program Files\Exchsrvr\Storage group name. To store the transaction log files in a different location, you can click Browse to open the Transaction Log dialog box. You can then select a pre-existing folder or click New Folder to create a new folder location for the transaction log files.
   
   
5. In high-security environments, click to select Zero out deleted database pages to increase security by replacing deleted database pages on the hard disk with zeros.
6. To reduce storage requirements, click to select Enable circular logging, which causes the transactional tracking logs to wrap entries and limits the size of the logs. If you use circular logging, you cannot recover any data that is more recent that the last full backup.IMPORTANT: By default, circular logging is turned off, which is the recommended setting if you want to recover all data including the last transaction. If you do not turn on circular logging, configure Exchange Server-aware online backups. Run a full or incremental Exchange Server-aware online backup to remove log transaction files. If you do not use these backups to remove the files, you might run out of disk space.
   
   
7. Click OK to create the storage group.

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Create a New Public Folder Store

After you create the storage group, create a public folder store or database in the storage group. To do so, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Microsoft Exchange, and then click System Manager.
2. Double-click Servers.
3. Right-click the storage group that you created in the "Create a New Storage Group" section, point to New, and then click Public Store.
4. In the Name box, type the name of the new public folder store. Microsoft recommends that you use a name that is related to the purpose of the database, such as Web Public Folder Store.
   
   
5. Next to Associated public folder store, click Browse. The Available public folder trees list shows only the public folder tree that you created in the "Create a New Public Folder Tree" section.
   
   
6. Click the public folder tree, and then click OK.
7. Click the Database tab, and then set the locations of the database file (.edb) and the streaming media files (.stm).NOTE: The default locations are in the same folder as the transactional log files (C:\Program Files\Exchsrvr\New Storage Group\New Public folder Database.edb and C:\Program Files\Exchsrvr\New Storage Group\New Public folder Database.stm).
   
   
8. Configure the Maintenance interval setting for the database to specify when online compaction runs. Online compaction compacts the database files by defragmenting the data in the database files. It does not make the actual files smaller. To make the actual files smaller, use the Eseutil utility.
   
   
9. Click the Limits tab, and then configure the storage limits.These settings apply to all public folders in this storage group unless you configure settings for individual public folders. You can also configure Deletion settings where you can specify how long it is before deleted items are completely removed from the database.
   
   
10. Click OK to accept the changes.
11. When you are prompted, click Yes to mount the store immediately and make it available for public folders, and then click OK.

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Verify the Storage Group

To verify that the storage group was successfully created, start Windows Explorer, and then locate the folder where the transactional logs and system files reside. By default, this folder is C:\Program Files\Exchsrvr\Storage group name.

The folder contains files that are similar to the following files:

• E01.chk
• E01.log (and possibly more log files)
• res1.log
• res2.log

All the log files are 5,120 KB. If the log files are not 5,120 KB, they are corrupted.

To verify that the public folder store was successfully created, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Microsoft Exchange, and then click System Manager.
2. In the left pane, click Application Log.
3. On the View menu, click Filter.
4. Click the Filter tab.
5. In the Event Source list, click MSExchangeIS Public Store, and then click OK.
6. Scroll through the list of events, and locate the following event numbers: 1000, 1133, 1217, and 3000. These event numbers indicate that the public folder store was successfully created and mounted.

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Troubleshooting

If you put storage groups and public folder stores on disks that do not have enough disk space, the public folder store cannot be mounted. To correct this error, change the storage location for the public folder store.

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