XFOR: Many DAT Files in the Mtadata Directory

• Microsoft Exchange Server version 5.5

SYMPTOMS

When you look in the Microsoft Exchange Server Mtadata directory, you may find a large number of .dat files, for example, DB000123.DAT. Many of these files are only 1 byte in size. This is also true, even if the Exchange Server message transfer agent (MTA) does not have any messages in the queues held for delivery.

CAUSE

This is by product design. In Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5, the MTA creates DAT files for all messages. After the messages have been delivered, instead of deleting the DAT files themselves, the data is deleted from the DAT files and the files are reset to 1 byte. The DAT files can be reused for future messages. This is done to enhance the performance of the MTA because creating and deleting files is a time consuming process. The number of .dat files will reflect the maximum number of messages in the queue at any one time.

Keywords          : XFOR kbusage
Version           : 5.5
Platform          : winnt