XADM: Private Information Store Has High Disk Size Item Numbers

ID: Q183057

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Exchange Server, version 5.5

SYMPTOMS

When you select an Exchange Server, version 5.5, in the left pane of the Microsoft Exchange Administrator program, get properties on the private information store, and select 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 much as the user clients do to deliver and receive messages into 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 the connectors and gateways, through the use of these mailboxes. The Exchange Administrator program, however, no longer keeps accurate counters for such mailboxes. These numbers are meaningless and should be ignored.

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 information about a similar problem in which the Mailbox Resources tab reports information that appears inaccurate, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q152458 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. An example is when the Exchange Server computer crashes. If this happens, run the ISINTEG utility to fix these counters.

Additional query words: ims is imc/ims imc

Keywords :
Version : WINDOWS:5.5
Platform : winnt
Issue type : kbbug