Cisco Unity Maintenance Guide (With Microsoft Exchange), Release 4.0(3) - Configuring Exchange for Maintenance Tasks [Cisco Unity]

Table Of Contents

Configuring Exchange for Maintenance Tasks

Setting a Maximum Size for Exchange Mailboxes

Circular Logging in Exchange

Configuring Exchange for Maintenance Tasks

On any Exchange server that is the home server for Cisco Unity subscribers, do the tasks in the following sections:

•Setting a Maximum Size for Exchange Mailboxes

•Circular Logging in Exchange

In addition to the instructions in this chapter, existing Microsoft best practices can be researched and made use of, based on the system scaling and traffic patterns of your site. Refer to the Microsoft website for best practices on maintaining Microsoft products.

Setting a Maximum Size for Exchange Mailboxes

Voice messages can consume significant amounts of disk space. For example, voice messages recorded by using the G.711 codec consume 480 KB/minute. If all Cisco Unity subscribers save every voice message they receive, the hard disk where messages are stored can quickly run out of space. To prevent this from happening, set limits on the size of subscriber Exchange mailboxes.

To view and set the size of subscriber mailboxes, you can use the Message Store Manager utility, available in Tools Depot (see the "Message Store Manager Utility" section on page 2-3). Or, if you prefer, use the applicable procedure, as follows:

•To Set Limits for All Users in Exchange 2000 and Exchange 2003

•To Set Limits for Individual Users in Exchange 2000 and Exchange 2003

•To Set Limits for All Users in Exchange 5.5

•To Set Limits for Individual Users in Exchange 5.5

For more information on Exchange 5.5, Exchange 2000, and Exchange 2003 storage limits, refer to the Microsoft Exchange documentation. You can also review the White Paper: Understanding How Exchange 2000 Storage Limits Work with Cisco Unity, available at http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/product/voice/c_unity/whitpapr/e2kstore.htm.

To learn more about how Cisco Unity handles subscribers with full mailboxes, refer to the "How Cisco Unity Handles Subscribers Whose Mailboxes Are Full" section in the "Default Accounts and Message Handling" chapter of the Cisco Unity System Administration Guide. (The Cisco Unity System Administration Guide is available at http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/product/voice/c_unity/unity40/sag/sag403/ex/index.htm.) For information on mailbox size and Cisco Unity performance, see the "Administrative Monitoring Guidelines for Cisco Unity Performance" section.

To Set Limits for All Users in Exchange 2000 and Exchange 2003

Step 1 On the Windows Start menu, click Programs > Microsoft Exchange > System Manager.

Step 2 In the left pane, expand Servers, expand the appropriate server, and expand the storage group.

Step 3 Right-click Mailbox Store, and click Properties.

Step 4 Click the Limits tab.

Step 5 In the Storage Limits section, specify values as applicable.

Step 6 Click OK to close the Mailbox Store Properties dialog box.

To Set Limits for Individual Users in Exchange 2000 and Exchange 2003

Use this procedure to set different limits for individual users (for example, to set no limit for the company president).

Step 1 On the Windows Start menu, click Programs > Microsoft Exchange > Active Directory Users and Computers.

Step 2 In the left pane, expand the server.

Step 3 In the left pane, click the directory in which the user appears (by default, the directory is named Users).

Step 4 In the right pane, right-click the user name, and click Properties.

Step 5 Click the Exchange General tab.

Step 6 Click Storage Limits.

Step 7 In the Storage Limits dialog box, uncheck the Use Mailbox Store Defaults check box.

Step 8 Specify values as applicable.

Step 9 Click OK to close the Storage Limits dialog box.

Step 10 Click OK to close the User Properties dialog box.

To Set Limits for All Users in Exchange 5.5

Step 1 On the Windows Start menu, click Programs > Microsoft Exchange > Microsoft Exchange Administrator.

Step 2 In the left pane, expand the site, expand Configuration, expand Servers, and expand the applicable server name.

Step 3 In the left pane, click Private Information Store.

Step 4 On the Exchange Administrator menu, click File > Properties.

Step 5 On the General tab, specify values in the Storage Limits section as applicable.

Step 6 Click OK to close the Private Information Store Properties dialog box.

To Set Limits for Individual Users in Exchange 5.5

Use this procedure to set different limits for individual users (for example, to set no limit for the company president).

Step 1 On the Windows Start menu, click Programs > Microsoft Exchange > Microsoft Exchange Administrator.

Step 2 In the left pane, expand the site and click Recipients.

Step 3 In the right pane, double-click the mailbox whose limit you want to change.

Step 4 Click the Limits tab.

Step 5 In the Use Information Store Defaults section, uncheck the Use Information Store Defaults check box.

Step 6 Specify values as applicable.

Step 7 Click OK to close the User Properties dialog box.

Circular Logging in Exchange

You can configure logging in one of two ways: either the existing logs are overwritten when hard disk space runs low, or the existing logs are never overwritten.

Exchange 5.5, Exchange 2000, and Exchange 2003 store data in Jet databases. The most current transactions are stored in the Edb.log file. When the Edb.lg file reaches 5 MB in size, Exchange checks to see if the oldest transactions in the file have been committed to the database. If they have been, the old transactions are overwritten with new transactions, preventing the total size of the log files from growing beyond 25 to 30 MB in size. Exchange will not, however, overwrite any transactions that have not been committed to the database. This process is referred to as circular logging. When circular logging is enabled, full backups of Exchange are always required. If you do not plan to do full backups every time you back up the system, turn off circular logging to have more flexibility with your backup schedule.

When circular logging is disabled, and the Edb.lg file reaches 5 MB in size, Exchange creates a new log file of the same name, and renames the inactive file. The number of log files increases as more transactions are logged, and the system continues to create new log files until a backup is completed. If you disable circular logging, we recommend that you set a backup schedule to do full backups periodically, and incremental backups at all other times.

After you back up the message store by using Exchange-aware backup software, the backup software clears the transaction logs. At this point, the backup reflects the current state of the message store, so the transaction logs are no longer required to restore the message store.

Caution If circular logging is enabled and hard disk space runs low, the newest transaction log entries (which contain the newest messages) overwrite the oldest log entries (the oldest messages). When log entries are overwritten, you cannot use the transaction logs to restore messages that were received after the last backup. If disk space is very low and if the system is very busy, old entries may be overwritten in less than a day.

If you decide to disable circular logging, confirm that scheduled incremental and full backups continue to run and that they do not fail or stop working for any reason. If backups are not done, the transaction logs can cause the hard disk to fill up, which in turn causes Exchange to stop working, and subsequently can cause Cisco Unity to stop working.

We strongly recommend that you do the following:

•Use Exchange-aware backup software to back up the message store.

•Carefully watch the amount of available space on the hard disk or in the partition where logs are stored, and free up disk space when the amount of available space gets too low.

To Turn Circular Logging Off for Exchange 5.5

Step 1 In the left pane of Microsoft Exchange Administrator, select the server.

Step 2 On the Exchange Administrator File menu, click Properties.

Step 3 Click the Advanced tab.

Step 4 In the Database Circular Logging section, uncheck the Information Store check box.

If you also want to turn circular logging off for the directory, you can also uncheck the Directory check box.

	Cisco Unity Maintenance Guide (With Microsoft Exchange), Release 4.0(3)
	Configuring Exchange for Maintenance Tasks
Cisco Unity Maintenance Guide (With Microsoft Exchange), Release 4.0(3) Index Preface Introduction Configuring Cisco Unity for Maintenance Tasks Configuring Exchange for Maintenance Tasks Routine and Scheduled Maintenance on the Cisco Unity Server Cisco Unity Data and Log Files Performance Monitoring Performing Non-Routine or Unscheduled Maintenance on the Cisco Unity Server Remote Access	Download this chapter Configuring Exchange for Maintenance Tasks Download the complete book PDF Version of the Entire Book (PDF - 2 MB) Feedback Table Of Contents Configuring Exchange for Maintenance Tasks Setting a Maximum Size for Exchange Mailboxes Circular Logging in Exchange Configuring Exchange for Maintenance Tasks On any Exchange server that is the home server for Cisco Unity subscribers, do the tasks in the following sections: •Setting a Maximum Size for Exchange Mailboxes •Circular Logging in Exchange In addition to the instructions in this chapter, existing Microsoft best practices can be researched and made use of, based on the system scaling and traffic patterns of your site. Refer to the Microsoft website for best practices on maintaining Microsoft products. Setting a Maximum Size for Exchange Mailboxes Voice messages can consume significant amounts of disk space. For example, voice messages recorded by using the G.711 codec consume 480 KB/minute. If all Cisco Unity subscribers save every voice message they receive, the hard disk where messages are stored can quickly run out of space. To prevent this from happening, set limits on the size of subscriber Exchange mailboxes. To view and set the size of subscriber mailboxes, you can use the Message Store Manager utility, available in Tools Depot (see the "Message Store Manager Utility" section on page 2-3). Or, if you prefer, use the applicable procedure, as follows: •To Set Limits for All Users in Exchange 2000 and Exchange 2003 •To Set Limits for Individual Users in Exchange 2000 and Exchange 2003 •To Set Limits for All Users in Exchange 5.5 •To Set Limits for Individual Users in Exchange 5.5 For more information on Exchange 5.5, Exchange 2000, and Exchange 2003 storage limits, refer to the Microsoft Exchange documentation. You can also review the White Paper: Understanding How Exchange 2000 Storage Limits Work with Cisco Unity, available at http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/product/voice/c_unity/whitpapr/e2kstore.htm. To learn more about how Cisco Unity handles subscribers with full mailboxes, refer to the "How Cisco Unity Handles Subscribers Whose Mailboxes Are Full" section in the "Default Accounts and Message Handling" chapter of the Cisco Unity System Administration Guide. (The Cisco Unity System Administration Guide is available at http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/product/voice/c_unity/unity40/sag/sag403/ex/index.htm.) For information on mailbox size and Cisco Unity performance, see the "Administrative Monitoring Guidelines for Cisco Unity Performance" section. To Set Limits for All Users in Exchange 2000 and Exchange 2003 Step 1 On the Windows Start menu, click Programs > Microsoft Exchange > System Manager. Step 2 In the left pane, expand Servers, expand the appropriate server, and expand the storage group. Step 3 Right-click Mailbox Store, and click Properties. Step 4 Click the Limits tab. Step 5 In the Storage Limits section, specify values as applicable. Step 6 Click OK to close the Mailbox Store Properties dialog box. To Set Limits for Individual Users in Exchange 2000 and Exchange 2003 Use this procedure to set different limits for individual users (for example, to set no limit for the company president). Step 1 On the Windows Start menu, click Programs > Microsoft Exchange > Active Directory Users and Computers. Step 2 In the left pane, expand the server. Step 3 In the left pane, click the directory in which the user appears (by default, the directory is named Users). Step 4 In the right pane, right-click the user name, and click Properties. Step 5 Click the Exchange General tab. Step 6 Click Storage Limits. Step 7 In the Storage Limits dialog box, uncheck the Use Mailbox Store Defaults check box. Step 8 Specify values as applicable. Step 9 Click OK to close the Storage Limits dialog box. Step 10 Click OK to close the User Properties dialog box. To Set Limits for All Users in Exchange 5.5 Step 1 On the Windows Start menu, click Programs > Microsoft Exchange > Microsoft Exchange Administrator. Step 2 In the left pane, expand the site, expand Configuration, expand Servers, and expand the applicable server name. Step 3 In the left pane, click Private Information Store. Step 4 On the Exchange Administrator menu, click File > Properties. Step 5 On the General tab, specify values in the Storage Limits section as applicable. Step 6 Click OK to close the Private Information Store Properties dialog box. To Set Limits for Individual Users in Exchange 5.5 Use this procedure to set different limits for individual users (for example, to set no limit for the company president). Step 1 On the Windows Start menu, click Programs > Microsoft Exchange > Microsoft Exchange Administrator. Step 2 In the left pane, expand the site and click Recipients. Step 3 In the right pane, double-click the mailbox whose limit you want to change. Step 4 Click the Limits tab. Step 5 In the Use Information Store Defaults section, uncheck the Use Information Store Defaults check box. Step 6 Specify values as applicable. Step 7 Click OK to close the User Properties dialog box. Circular Logging in Exchange You can configure logging in one of two ways: either the existing logs are overwritten when hard disk space runs low, or the existing logs are never overwritten. Exchange 5.5, Exchange 2000, and Exchange 2003 store data in Jet databases. The most current transactions are stored in the Edb.log file. When the Edb.lg file reaches 5 MB in size, Exchange checks to see if the oldest transactions in the file have been committed to the database. If they have been, the old transactions are overwritten with new transactions, preventing the total size of the log files from growing beyond 25 to 30 MB in size. Exchange will not, however, overwrite any transactions that have not been committed to the database. This process is referred to as circular logging. When circular logging is enabled, full backups of Exchange are always required. If you do not plan to do full backups every time you back up the system, turn off circular logging to have more flexibility with your backup schedule. When circular logging is disabled, and the Edb.lg file reaches 5 MB in size, Exchange creates a new log file of the same name, and renames the inactive file. The number of log files increases as more transactions are logged, and the system continues to create new log files until a backup is completed. If you disable circular logging, we recommend that you set a backup schedule to do full backups periodically, and incremental backups at all other times. After you back up the message store by using Exchange-aware backup software, the backup software clears the transaction logs. At this point, the backup reflects the current state of the message store, so the transaction logs are no longer required to restore the message store. Caution If circular logging is enabled and hard disk space runs low, the newest transaction log entries (which contain the newest messages) overwrite the oldest log entries (the oldest messages). When log entries are overwritten, you cannot use the transaction logs to restore messages that were received after the last backup. If disk space is very low and if the system is very busy, old entries may be overwritten in less than a day. If you decide to disable circular logging, confirm that scheduled incremental and full backups continue to run and that they do not fail or stop working for any reason. If backups are not done, the transaction logs can cause the hard disk to fill up, which in turn causes Exchange to stop working, and subsequently can cause Cisco Unity to stop working. We strongly recommend that you do the following: •Use Exchange-aware backup software to back up the message store. •Carefully watch the amount of available space on the hard disk or in the partition where logs are stored, and free up disk space when the amount of available space gets too low. To Turn Circular Logging Off for Exchange 5.5 Step 1 In the left pane of Microsoft Exchange Administrator, select the server. Step 2 On the Exchange Administrator File menu, click Properties. Step 3 Click the Advanced tab. Step 4 In the Database Circular Logging section, uncheck the Information Store check box. If you also want to turn circular logging off for the directory, you can also uncheck the Directory check box.
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