You may experience slow client performance if the version store runs out of memory in Exchange 2000 Server (891639)

SYMPTOMS

You may experience slow client performance on server that is running Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server. Additionally, the following event may be logged in the Application log when you experience slow client performance: Event Type: Error
Event Source: ESE
Event Category: Transaction Manager
Event ID: 623
Description: <process name> (<PID>) The version store for instance <instance> ("<name>") has reached its maximum size of <value>Mb. It is likely that a long-running transaction is preventing cleanup of the version store and causing it to build up in size. Updates will be rejected until the long-running transaction has been completely committed or rolled back. Possible long-running transaction: SessionId: <value> Session-context: <value> Session-context ThreadId: <value>.

CAUSE

This problem occurs if the version store runs out of memory. The version store is used by Extensible Storage Engine (ESE) to track and to manage current transactions. The version store is an in-memory list of changes that are made to the database. The version store is used for roll-back of transactions, for write-conflict detection, and for other tasks. The version store entry for a specific operation is cleaned up only one time when the following conditions are true:

The transaction that owns the operation has been either committed or rolled back.
All the transactions that are outstanding at the time that the operation was performed have been either committed or rolled back.

Therefore, if a transaction is open for a long time, the transaction prevents version store cleanup. Eventually the version store runs out of memory. When the version store runs out of memory, the 623 event message that is mentioned in the "Symptoms" section may be logged.

The version store may run out of memory for several reasons. In this particular case, an operation on the database has had to move through many empty pages that have not been cleaned up. This causes a transaction to be open for a long time.

ESE will not clean up empty pages if a backup is in progress. Note that the 623 event message is not caused by the backup process. The 623 event message may be logged even if a backup is not running.

If a process is sequentially deleting lots of records or index entries when a backup is occurring in the storage group, all the pages that would have been freed when the records or the index entries are deleted remain in the database. Later, ESE may have to move through these deleted pages during a transaction. This action may take a long time. This action may eventually lead to the 623 event message. Subsequent operations on the database are prevented until more space is available in the version store.

You may see this issue in the DeliveredTo table. The DeliveredTo table contains an entry for each incoming message to the server. This entry remains for up to one hour before the entry is removed. The DeliveredTo table prevents duplicate delivery of messages. If empty pages that are being used by this table have not been cleaned up, the 623 event message may be logged.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this problem, apply the hotfix that is described in this section. This hotfix changes the way that empty pages are examined during a backup. This hotifx makes the cleanup of the DeliveredTo table more efficient. Therefore, the ESE can more easily move through the DeliveredTo table.

Hotfix information

A supported hotfix is now available from Microsoft, but it is only intended to correct the problem that is described in this article. Only apply it to systems that are experiencing this specific problem. This hotfix may receive additional testing. Therefore, if you are not severely affected by this problem, we recommend that you wait for the next Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server service pack that contains this hotfix.

To resolve this problem immediately, contact Microsoft Product Support Services to obtain the hotfix. For a complete list of Microsoft Product Support Services telephone numbers and information about support costs, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://support.microsoft.com/contactus/?ws=support

Note In special cases, charges that are ordinarily incurred for support calls may be canceled if a Microsoft Support Professional determines that a specific update will resolve your problem. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for the specific update in question.

Prerequisites

Because of file dependencies, this software update requires Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server Service Pack 3 (SP3).

For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

301378 How to obtain the latest Exchange 2000 Server service pack

File information

The English version of this hotfix has the file attributes (or later file attributes) that are listed in the following table. The dates and times for these files are listed in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the Time Zone tab in the Date and Time tool in Control Panel.

   Date         Time   Version            Size    File name
   --------------------------------------------------------------
   01-Apr-2005  05:37  6.0.6617.61     2,187,264  Ese.dll          
   01-Apr-2005  20:40  6.0.6617.61     2,342,912  Mdbmsg.dll       
   01-Apr-2005  21:33  6.0.6617.61     4,706,304  Store.exe