XADM: Accessing Information Store Folders May Become Slow

• Microsoft Exchange Server, versions 4.0, 5.0, 5.5

SYMPTOMS

When you try to open one or more folders in either the private or public information store, the process may become very slow or unresponsive. This problem may manifest itself in the following ways:

• Client response is very slow if you access mail in a folder (for example, if you change the status of a item from read to unread, open an item, or delete an item).



• You receive MAPI error messages that include the phrase "Client Operation Failed."



• Log files in the Mdbdata folder grow at a steady rate and you observe very little change, if any, in the public folder resources or the mailbox resources.



• If you create a new folder and move the contents of the problem folder to the new folder, you can resolve the issue for a few days, but the problem later reoccurs.



• If you access particular folders, response is slow or problematic, but other folders in the same database respond as usual. This includes special folders such as gateway folders (for example, the Mts-in and Mts-out folders).

CAUSE

Too many cached restrictions, back links, and searches are being placed on an individual folder.

To determine if you are experiencing the problem discussed in this article, perform either one of the following tests:

IMPORTANT: Before you perform Test 1, ensure that you have a full online backup of the information store, because Test 1 resets folder views on the server.

Test 1

1. Add the Reset Views registry value for either the public or private information store.
   
   WARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that problems resulting from the incorrect use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.
   
   For information about how to edit the registry, view the "Changing Keys and Values" Help topic in Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) or the "Add and Delete Information in the Registry" and "Edit Registry Data" Help topics in Regedt32.exe. Note that you should back up the registry before you edit it. If you are running Windows NT, you should also update your Emergency Repair Disk (ERD).
   
   To add this value, perform one of the following procedures, as applicable:



• The Public Information Store: To modify the registry key to change the Reset Views value for the public information store, perform the following steps:



1. Start the Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe).



2. Under the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE subtree, go to the following subkey:




System\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSExchangeIS\ParametersPublic

3. Add a Reset Views value of the REG_DWORD type.



4. The default of the Reset Views value, without this registry entry, is 0. Set the value to 1.



5. Quit the Registry Editor.



• The Private Information Store: To modify the registry key to change the Reset Views value for the private information store, perform the following steps:



1. Start the Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe).



2. Under the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE subtree, go to the following subkey:




System\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSExchangeIS\ParametersPrivate

3. Add a Reset Views value of the REG_DWORD type.



4. The default of the Reset Views value, without this registry entry, is 0. Set the value to 1.



5. Quit the Registry Editor.



2. Stop the information store service, and then restart it.


If this value exists and is set to a non-zero value, the information store deletes all of the cached restrictions on the next cleaning interval (during information store maintenance) and resets the value to zero. You can determine if this has occurred; check the registry key to see if the value has been reset to zero. After deletion of the cached restrictions occurs, if the performance of the folder is greatly improved, you are experiencing the problem discussed in this article.

Test 2

1. Stop the information store.



2. At a command prompt, go to the Exchsrvr\Bin folder and run the following command:

   isinteg -pri|pub -dump -l logfilename

   WARNING: This command dumps details of all of the folders in the specified database. Depending on the size of the database, the log file that is produced may be quite large.



3. Examine the log file and look for any folders with large numbers of entries under the following fields:

   Search FIDs=
   Recursive FIDs=
   Search Backlinks=
   Categ FIDs=

   For example:

   Search FIDs=0001-000000000418,0001-00000000041B,0001-000000000421, 0001-000000000423,0001-000000000424,0001-000000000428,0001-00000000042D

   If this continues for several hundred entries, you are experiencing the problem discussed in this article.

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, decrease the Aging Keep Time value for the affected database (either the public or private information store) from the default of 8 days to 1 day.

Aging Keep Time

• Public Information Store: To modify the registry key to change the Aging Keep Time value for the public information store:



1. Start the Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe).



2. Under the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE subtree, go to the following subkey:




System\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSExchangeIS\ParametersPublic

3. Add an Aging Keep Time value of the REG_DWORD type.



4. The default for the Aging Keep Time value, without this registry entry, is 8 days. Exchange Server 4.0 and 5.0 store this value in milliseconds (8 days in milliseconds is 691,200,000: 1000*60*60*24*8 = 691,200,000), and Exchange Server 5.5 stores this value in seconds (8 days in seconds is 691,200: 60*60*24*8 = 691,200). To set the new Aging Keep Time value to 1 day, set the value to either 86,400,000 for Exchange Server 4.0 and 5.0, or 86,400 for Exchange Server 5.5. If you require a lower value, be sure you remember that Exchange Server 4.0 and 5.0 use milliseconds, and Exchange Server 5.5 uses seconds.
   
   NOTE: This value is entered as decimal.



5. Quit the Registry Editor.



• Private Information Store: To modify the registry key to change the Aging Keep Time value for the private information store:



1. Start the Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe).



2. Under the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE subtree, go to the following subkey:




System\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSExchangeIS\ParametersPrivate

3. Add an Aging Keep Time value of the REG_DWORD type.



4. The default for the Aging Keep Time value, without this registry entry, is 8 days. Exchange Server 4.0 and 5.0 store this value in milliseconds (8 days in milliseconds is 691,200,000: 1000*60*60*24*8 = 691,200,000), and Exchange Server 5.5 stores this value in seconds (8 days in seconds is 691,200: 60*60*24*8 = 691,200). To set the new Aging Keep Time value to 1 day, set the value to either 86,400,000 for Exchange Server 4.0 and 5.0, or 86,400 for Exchange Server 5.5. If you require a lower value, be sure you remember that Exchange Server 4.0 and 5.0 use milliseconds, and Exchange Server 5.5 uses seconds.
   
   NOTE: This value is entered as decimal.



5. Quit the Registry Editor.



6. Stop the information store service, and then restart it.

Aging Clean Interval

• Public Information Store: To modify the registry key to decrease the Aging Clean Interval value for the public information store:



1. Start the Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe).



2. Under the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE subtree, go to the following subkey:




System\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSExchangeIS\ParametersPublic

3. Add an Aging Clean Interval value of the REG_DWORD type.



4. The default of the Aging Clean Interval value, without this registry entry, is 86,400 (or 1 day in seconds, 60*60*24). Set the new Aging Clean Interval value to a number less than 86,400.
   
   NOTE: This value is entered as decimal.



5. Quit the Registry Editor.



• Private Information Store: To modify this registry key to change the Aging Clean Interval value for the private information store:



1. Start the Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe).



2. Under the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE subtree, go to the following subkey:




System\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSExchangeIS\ParametersPrivate

3. Add an Aging Clean Interval value of the REG_DWORD type.



4. The default of the Aging Clean Interval value, if this registry entry is missing, is 86,400 (or 1 day in seconds, 60*60*24). Set the new Aging Clean Interval value to a number less than 86,400.
   
   NOTE: This value is entered as decimal.



5. Quit the Registry Editor.



6. Stop the information store service, and then restart it.

1. Set the Aging Keep Time value to a low setting (1 hour = 3,600 seconds).



2. Set the Aging Clean Interval value to 43200.



3. The cache is cleared during information store maintenance, so run information store maintenance every 12 hours.

Q159196 XADM: Tasks Controlled by the Information Store Maintenance Schedule

MORE INFORMATION

There are two methods you can use to search on a folder, the Restrict() method and the FindRows() method. The Restrict() method caches the restriction on that folder and is not removed for several days. If the view, filter, or search is using an ever-changing primary index, a new restriction is added each time that the folder is called. This can lead to a severe decrease in the performance of the folder, because every time a change is applied, all the back links have to be accessed.

For additional information about controlling folder index aging, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q159197 XADM: Controlling Folder Index Aging

Additional query words: poor slow outlook filter

Keywords : exc4 exc5 exc55
Version : winnt:4.0,5.0,5.5
Platform : winnt
Issue type : kbprb