XCON: Message Size Grows When Rerouting on Same Server

• Microsoft Exchange Server, versions 4.0, 5.0

SYMPTOMS

If there are two or more possible routes between two Microsoft Exchange Server computers, and one of those servers stops running, messages on the server that is still running will cycle through all the possible routes until the message hop count is exceeded. Before the hop count is exceeded, the server with the rerouting message may run out of disk space. If the server runs out of disk space, the file will reside on the drive and the Exchange Server services will stop because of the insufficient disk space. When disk space is freed up, messages continue with route selection (and hops).

CAUSE

In Exchange Server 4.0 and 5.0, when a message passes through each turn at a connector, the P1 header grows in size to reflect the turn. Over time, the P1 header can become quite large because the hop count for each connector is 512. Therefore, if there are two connectors between the servers, the P1 header information will grow in size 1,024 times.

The additional header information contained in the P1 header is not needed for re-routes on a single server.

NOTE: Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5 does not add the additional header information and the message size does not change.

NOTE: Reroutes that span separate Exchange Server computers will cause the P1 header to grow because this header information is required when hopping between separate message transfer agents (MTAs).

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Microsoft Exchange Server, versions 4.0 and 5.0. This problem was corrected in Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5.

Additional query words:

Keywords : XCON
Version : winnt:4.0,5.0
Platform : winnt
Issue type : kbbug