Copyright
©1996, Que Corporation. All rights reserved. No part of this book
may be used or reproduced in any form or by any means, or stored in a database
or retrieval system without prior written permission of the publisher except
in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
Making copies of any part of this book for any purpose other than your
own personal use is a violation of United States copyright laws. For information,
address Que Corporation, 201 West 103rd Street, Indianapolis,
IN 46290 or at support@mcp .com.
Notice: This material is excerpted from Special Edition Using Microsoft Exchange Server, ISBN: 0-7897-0687-3. The electronic version of this material has not been through the final proof reading stage that the book goes through before being published in printed form. Some errors may exist here that are corrected before the book is published. This material is provided "as is" without any warranty of any kind.
The Microsoft Exchange Information Stores (public and private) are the databases that hold all Microsoft Exchange messaging information.In addition, the Information Store is the primary storage system for information relevant to users, including: Messages, Server-based mailboxes and their contents, Public folders and their contents, Private folders that are stored on a server instead of on a user’s computer, documents, forms, user-deined items.
In this chapter you learn about the following:
Important Information Store Concepts
The following concepts will be helpful to understand when proceeding through this chapter:
Top Level Folder
A public folder created at the highest point in the public folder directory tree. Usually only certain individuals in an Exchange organization are granted the right to create folders at the top of the hierarchy.
Public Folder Instance
A replica of a public folder on a different site than it was created. Users can then connect to the instance of the folder instead of crossing site boundaries (and adding to network traffic) and connecting to a remote site.
Public Folder Affinity
When a user in a local site needs to connect to a public folder only available in a remote site, the choice of connection will be based on the costs assigned to that site containing replicas of that folder.
Information Store Message Tracking
The Information Store is responsible for message transfer between two users on the same Exchange server. To keep a record of Information Store message transfer activity within a Microsoft Exchange server, enable message tracking. A daily log file is generated and stored in the EXCHSRVR\TRACKING.LOG directory. The individual log files are named as follows:
Information Store Site Configuration
Settings made on the Information Store Site Configuration property pages affect all servers within an Exchange site. When first setting up an Exchange site, you should use these property pages.
Opening the MTA Site Configuration Properties pages:
1. Navigate to your desired site with the Exchange administrator program.
2. Click on the Configuration container (see fig. 14.1) of the selected site. All the site configuration objects appear in the administrator program’s right window.
The Configuration container holds all site configuration objects.
3. Select the Information Store Site Configuration object from the list.
4. Open its property pages.
At this point there will be five property pages to configure:
1. Select the General tab of the Information Store Site Configuration Properties page. The property page in figure 14.2 appears.
The Configuration container holds all site configuration objects.
2. If desired, type a new Display Name as you want it to appear in the Microsoft Exchange Administrator program. By default this name is Information Store Site Configuration. The Directory name for this object is Site-MDB-Config by default, and it cannot be changed.
3. The Public Folder container box displays the recipient container in which the Public Folders for this site are stored. By default, this box is blank, and Public Folders are stored in the standard recipients container. Click Modify to bring up a dialog box with a listing of all available recipient containers within this site. Select a container, then click OK.
4. Click the Enable message tracking checkbox to instruct the Information Store to keep a daily log file about all messages processed by the MTA. This button corresponds with the Enable Message Tracking checkbox on the MTA Site Configuration.
5. Click Apply to set these properties and continue with other properties. If you are done with all settings, click OK to return to the administrator program.
This property page allows you to define certain Windows NT user accounts that have rights to modify this directory object. See chapter 11, "Using the Administrator Program," for a detailed description on working with the standard Permissions property page.
This property page can either deny or allow certain users the capability to create public folders on the highest level of the hierarchy.
Distribution lists can also be specified, and Exchange will use the members of that list to determine top level folder creation permission.
Configuring Top Level Folder Creation Properties:
1. Select the Top Level Folder Creation tab from the Information Store Site Configuration Properties page. The property page in figure 14.3 appears.
Selectively assign Top Level Folder creation rights from this property page.
2. The Allowed to create top level folders box lists the recipients who are specifically given permission to create these folders. The Not allowed to create top level folders box lists the recipients specifically denied permission to create these folders.
3. Click the Modify button under either window if you wish to add or delete recipients from the lists. A standard address list dialog box appears. By default, All can create top level folders and None are denied permission.
4. Click Apply to set these properties and continue with other properties. If you are done with all settings, click OK to return to the administrator program.
The actual storage limits are set in the following property pages for each corresponding recipient type:
1. Select the Storage Warnings tab of the Information Store Site Configuration Properties page. The property page in figure 14.4 appears.
Set the Storage Warnings notification schedule.
2. Select one of the three radio buttons that determine when recipients are notified.
3. Never--This effectively disables storage warning notification.
4. Always--A storage warning notification is executed immediately when a storage limit is exceeded
5. Selected times--Storage warning notifications are executed based upon the time slots selected on this property page.
If you are using storage limits in a large organization, it is generally not a good idea to select Always and potentially over tax your servers during high-traffic times with a large number of scattered warning messages. Better to schedule a time when messaging load is lower and have them all sent at once.
6. If you choose Selected Times, the Detail view radio buttons become available. Select either the 1 Hour or 15 Minute detail view, and the time grid will change its scale accordingly.
7. If you choose Selected Times, pick the time blocks for connection. By default, storage warning notifications are scheduled once per day beginning at 8 p.m.
8. Click Apply to set these properties and continue with other properties. If you are done with all settings, click OK to return to the administrator program.
This property page allows you to set up connection to public folders located in remote Exchange sites.
Configuring public folder affinity:
1. Select the Public Folder Affinity tab of the Information Store Site Configuration Properties pages. The property page in figure 14.5 appears.
Define how a user connects to remote public folders.
2. The Sites window lists all the sites in your organization. The Public folder affinity window lists all the sites to where a connection may be established in order for a user to connect to a remote public folder. The Cost column displays the relative numeric value assigned to this site. Similar to message routing, the site with the lower cost will be used first.
3. To add a site, select it from the Sites window and click Add. To remove a site, select it from the Public Folder Affinity window and click Remove.
4. Enter the Connected site cost in the box at the lower right if the property page is 0. This site will always be used first if it is available. 1-99: Sites used in numerical sequence, with load on equally numbered sites being distributed evenly. 100: This site will be used only if no other site is available.
5. Click Set Value to save the cost associated with the selected site.
6. Click Apply to set these properties and continue with other properties. If you are done with all settings, click OK to return to the administrator program.
Configuring Private Information Store
Now we will move on to configuring Private Information Store properties on an individual Microsoft Exchange server. The Private Information Store primarily holds data posted to public folders.
First you must select the Private Information Store from a server within your site:
1. Navigate to your desired site with the Exchange administrator program.
2. Click on the Configuration container of the selected site. All the site configuration objects appear in the administrator program’s right window.
3. Open the Servers container. A list of Exchange servers in your site will be listed.
4. Click the server name on which is the Private Information Store your want to configure (see fig. 14.6). The following list of server objects is visible on the right display window of the Microsoft Exchange Administrator Program.
The Private Information Store holds all mailbox data of users on the local server.
5. Click on the Private Information Store object. Open its property pages.
This property page allows you to set global storage size limits for mailboxes on this server. Also, you can specify a different Exchange server to be responsible for the public folders created by users on this server.
Configuring Private Information Store General properties:
1. Select the General tab of the Private Information Store Properties page. The property page in figure 14.7 appears.
The settings on this page apply to all mailboxes on this server.
2. Select the Issue warning (K) checkbox and enter a value (in kilobytes) at which a mailbox owner will be warned of nearing storage limits. By default, there is no set value entered.
3. Select the Prohibit send (K) checkbox and enter a value (in kilobytes) at which a mailbox owner will be prohibited from sending any additional outgoing messages until some stored message data is deleted. By default, there is no set value entered.
Issue warning and Prohibit send limits set on this property page are overridden by individual mailbox settings on each mailbox’s Advanced property page.
4. Under Public folder server select the Exchange server in your site on which will be stored public folders created by users on the local server. By default, the public folder server used s the same one on which the folder was created, the current server.
If you select a server other than the local Exchange server, then you are effectively separating that server’s public information and private information stores. Only select a different server if this complies with your overall load balancing plan for this Exchange site.
5. Click Apply to set these properties and continue with other properties. If you are done with all settings, click OK to return to the administrator program.
The message shown in figure 14.8 is an example storage size warning message.
This message is sent when users exceed set storage limits for their mailboxes.
This property page allows you to monitor the Microsoft Exchange users currently logged into a server. It consists of one main display window that shows all currently connected users. The window is broken down into various columns of information. The specific columns displayed are customizable both by information shown and width on the screen.
Viewing Logon information:
1. Select the Logons tab of the Private Information Store Properties page. The property page in figure 14.9 appears.
View currently logged on users.
2. The display window shows all users currently logged on to this Exchange server.
The Microsoft Exchange System Attendant is always listed in this window as well.
3. Click the Refresh button to update the display window with the latest information.
4. Click the Columns button to edit which columns are displayed and their width in pixels (see fig. 14.10). See the following for a description of each column heading and what type of information it can display.
5. Click Apply to set these properties and continue with other properties. If you are done with all settings, click OK to return to the administrator program.
Columns
Display Columns available for the Logons property page.
Default Columns
Optional Columns
This property page allows you to view the physical resources; e.g., hard disk storage space, used by the Exchange mailboxes on the server. It consists of one main display window that shows the mailboxes on the current server. The windows are broken down into various columns of information. The specific columns displayed are customizable both by information presented and width on the screen.
A mailbox will be displayed in this window only after the first time a user logs on to it. If the mailbox has never been used, it will not appear on Mailbox Resources property page.
Viewing Mailbox Resources information:
1. Select the Mailbox Resources tab of the Private Information Store Properties page. The property page in figure 14.11 appears.
View server resource use on a per-mailbox basis.
2. The display window shows all the mailboxes on this server that have been used at least once.
The Microsoft Exchange System Attendant and the Exchange account itself are always listed in this window as well.
3. Click the Refresh button to update the display window with the latest information.
4. Click the Columns button to edit which columns are displayed and their width in pixels (see fig. 14.12). See the following for a description of each column heading and what type of information it can display.
5. Click Apply to set these properties and continue with other properties. If you are done with all settings, click OK to return to the administrator program.
Display columns available for the Mailbox Resources property page
This property page allows you to view the full e-mail address for the mailbox and the total number of associated messages in this maibox.
This property page works in conjunction with the Windows NT Event Log to record various “events” that occur within the Information Store. This property page is identical to that one found on the Public Information Store Properties pages. Various levels of logging determine what constitutes an event and therefore what types of information are actually recorded. For troubleshooting purposes, you would want a very detailed record of occurrences within the Information Store, and hence set a high logging level. However, normally you would want to log only events that are critical, so set a lower logging level for everyday operation.
Public Information Store/Public Folder Replication
The Public Information Store Properties pages are much more extensive than the Private Information Store due to the existence of public folder replication. To reiterate this concept, duplicates of public folders can be created to reside on Exchange server on remote sites. Therefore, users based on the remote site can connect to the local copy of the public folder instead of crossing site boundaries to get to the information. This reduces network traffic between site boundaries.
The following are the Public Information Store Properties pages available on each Microsoft Exchange server:
This property page has only the one option to set a global Issue Warning for all public folders on the local Exchange server (see fig. 14.13).
Setting the General properties:
1. Select the General tab of the Public Information Store Properties page. The following property page appears.
Set a global (for all public folders on this server) public folder size warning.
2. Click the Issue warning (K) checkbox and enter a folder data size (in kilobytes) at which a folder contact will be notified. By default, this option is unchecked. Warnings can also be set at the individual folder level on the public folder’s Advanced property page.
3. Click Apply to set these properties and continue with other properties. If you are done with all settings, click OK to return to the administrator program.
Use this property page to mark public folders for duplication to the local server. Such instances of public folders in the local site are actually created through the process of public folder replication (see fig. 14.14).
1. Select the Instances tab of the Public Information Store Properties pages. The following property page appears.
Create public folder replicas on remote servers with this property page.
2. The left, Public folders, display window lists all the folders in the currently selected site. The right, Folders on this Information Store, displays the list of both public folders on this server and replicated to this server.
3. Use the Site pull-down menu to select a site in your organization. The public folders residing on that site are then listed in the left display window.
4. Select a public folder and click Add to mark that folder for replication to the local Exchange server.
5. To remove a public folder’s instance from the local server, select it from the right display window, then click Remove.
You cannot remove a local public folder from the local Exchange server if it is the only copy of it in the local site.
6. Click Apply to set these properties and continue with other properties. If you are done with all settings, click OK to return to the administrator program.
This property page allows you to set times when public folder replication messages are actually transferred. Take into consideration the potentially high volume of data that may need to be transferred from a large and heavily used public folder.
Setting the Replication Schedule:
1. Select the Replication Schedule tab of the Public Information Store Properties page. The dialog box in figure 14.15 appears.
Set public folder replication times for this server.
2. Select one of the four radio buttons that determine when this X.400 Connector connects.
3. Never--This effectively disables public folder replication from this server.
4. Always--Folder replication messages are sent every fifteen minutes. This time delay can be changed on this public information store’s Advanced property page. By default, Always is selected.
5. Selected times--Replication messages are transferred based upon the time grid on this property page.
6. If you choose Selected times, the Detail view radio buttons become available. Select either the 1 Hour or 15 Minute detail view and the time grid will change its scale accordingly.
7. If you choose Selected times, pick the time blocks for connection.
8. Click Apply to set these properties and continue with other properties. If you are done with all settings, click OK to return to the administrator program.
The Age Limits property page allows you to define when information in a public folder should expire and be automatically deleted. This feature prevents public folders from becoming bogged down with megabytes upon megabytes of outdated, useless information.
Example
You set up a CLASSIFIEDS folder. You set the age limits for posting in the folder for seven days. Once a message has been sitting in a folder for a week, then it will expire and be automatically deleted by the information store.
Setting Age Limits:
1. Select the Age Limits tab of the Public Information Store Properties page. The property page in figure 14.16 appears.
Set the amount of time a message can exist in a public folder before it is deleted.
2. The main display window shows the columns of information about all the public folders on this server (including replicas). A description of the kind of information that is displayed by each column will be given later in this chapter.
3. To set an overall Age limit for all folders on this information store (days), select the checkbox and enter a number of days in which messages in all this server’s public folders will expire.
You can override this setting on an individual public folder on that folder’s Advanced property page.
4. Select a public folder from the list and click Modify to set individual age limits for this folder. The dialog box in figure 14.17 appears.
Set age limits on an individual folder basis.
5. Click the This replica (days) checkbox to set an age limit for a public folder’s instance on this server only. Click the All replicas (days) checkbox to set an age limit set for all instances of a public folder throughout your organization. Click the Remove button to delete the selected public folder instance from the information store. Click OK to set your choices (see fig. 14.18).
6. Click the Refresh button to update the display window with the latest information.
7. Click the Columns button to edit which columns are displayed and their width in pixels. More details on columns will follow.
8. Click Apply to set these properties and continue with other properties. If you are done with all settings, click OK to return to the administrator program.
Display columns available for the Age Limits property page.
Default Columns
By default, all available columns are displayed:
E-mail addresses are used by the various Exchange gateways and connectors to identify specific directory objects to other messaging systems. There are three default addresses created each for MS Mail, SMTP, and X.400.
Setting public folder e-mail addresses:
1. Click the E-mail Addresses of the Public Information Store Properties page. The dialog box in figure 14.19 appears.
Define e-mail addresses for this directory object.
2. The three default addresses (MS Mail, SMTP, and X.400) are displayed.
3. Click New to add a specific e-mail address for this information store. Select an existing address and click Edit to modify it, or click Remove to delete it.
4. Click Apply to set these properties and continue with other properties. If you are done with all settings, click OK to return to the administrator program.
Use this property page to monitor which users are currently connected to a public folder.
1. Select the Logons tab of the Public Information Store Properties page. The property page in figure 14.20 appears.
View users currently connected to public folders on this server. The main display window shows columns of information about connected users.
The System Attendant is always shown as a public information store logon.
2. Click the Refresh button to update the display window with the latest information.
3. Click the Columns button to edit which columns are displayed and their width in pixels. See the following for a description of each column heading and what type of information it can display (see fig. 14.21).
4. Click Apply to set these properties and continue with other properties. If you are done with all settings, click OK to return to the administrator program.
Columns
Display Columns available for the Logons property page.
Default Columns
Optional Columns
These columns can be added if you want to view any of the following information.
This property page allows you to view the physical resources; e.g., hard disk storage space, used by the folders held on this public information store. It consists of one main display window that shows the public folders on the current server. The windows is subdivided into various columns of information. The specific columns displayed are customizable both by information presented and width on the screen.
Note that the Schedule+ Free Busy Information and the Offline Address Book are in essence public folders as well and are listed on the Public Folder Resources property page.
Viewing Public Folder Resources information:
1. Select the Public Folder Resources tab of the Public Information Store Properties page. The property page in figure 14.22 appears.
View server resources used by each public folder on this server.
2. The display window shows all the public on this server.
3. Click the Refresh button to update the display window with the latest information.
4. Click the Columns button to edit which columns are displayed and their width in pixels. See the following for a description of each column heading and what type of information it can display (see fig. 14.23).
5. Click Apply to set these properties and continue with other properties. If you are done with all settings, click OK to return to the administrator program.
Using this option, you can select which columns are to be displayed and their width in pixels.
Display columns available for the Public Folder Resources property page.
Using this option, you can view/set the default columns of information that will be displayed for the public folder.
Using this option, you can select the optional columns of information that will be displayed for the public folder.
This property page allows you to monitor the status of a public folders replication to the current public information store on the server level. Exchange servers are individually configured for transmitting updated public folder information to other replicas in remote sites. This property page is primarily a single-display window with various columns of information. The columns to be displayed are modified by none other than the Columns button. The information in this property page is used to not only verify that the selected remote public folders are indeed being replicated to this server, but to monitor details about message transmission time.
Viewing Server Replication Status:
1. Select the Server Replication Status tab of the PublicInformation Store property page. The property page in figure 14.24 appears.
View the status of remote servers that replicate public folders to the local server.
2. The display window shows all remote servers that replicate public folder data to this server.
3. Click the Refresh button to update the display window with the latest information.
4. Click the Columns button to edit which columns are displayed and their width in pixels. See the following for a description of each column heading and what type of information it can display (see fig. 14.25).
5. Click Apply to set these properties and continue with other properties. If you are done with all settings, click OK to return to the administrator program.
Columns
Display columns available for the Server Replication Status property page.
Default Columns
Optional Columns
There are no optional display columns on this property page. By default, all the columns that can be displayed are displayed.
This property page provides public information store monitoring capabilities on the individual folder level. This page is also one main display window whose information is displayed in columns.
Viewing Folder Replication Status:
1. Select the Folder Replication Status tab of the PublicInformation
Store Properties page. The property page in figure 14.26 appears.
View the status of individual folders replicated to the local server.
1. The display window shows all public folders replicated to this server’s public information store.
2. Click the Refresh button to update the display window with the latest information.
3. Click the Columns button to edit which columns are displayed and their width in pixels. See the following for a description of each column heading and what type of information it can display (see fig. 14.27).
4. Click Apply to set these properties and continue with other properties. If you are done with all settings, click OK to return to the administrator program.
Columns
Display columns available for the Folder Replication Status property page.
Default Columns
Optional Column
Folder -The public folder name
The Advanced property page allows you to make some specialized settings involving public folder replication. When a folder is replicated to a remote site, the actual replication data is a message addressed to the remote public information store. On this property page, you can set the upper limit for the size of the replication messages in order to better control messaging traffic.
1. Select the Advanced tab of the Public Information Store Properties page. The property page in fig 14.28 appears.
The Public Information Store Advanced property page.
2. In the Replicate always interval (minutes) box, enter the interval (in minutes) between outgoing replication messages when the Always radio button is selected in the Replication Schedule dialog box. By default, this interval is 15 minutes.
3. In the Replicate message size limit (K) box, enter the maximum message size (in kilobytes) of an outgoing replication message. By default, this maximum is set at 100k. Messages are grouped up to or subdivided to fit that size.
4. To reset the values of the two boxes to their default settings, click the Default button.
This property page works in conjunction with the Windows NT Event Log to record various “events” that occur within the Information Store. This property page is identical to that one found on the Private Information Store Properties pages. Various levels of logging determine what constitutes an event and, therefore, what types of information are actually recorded. For troubleshooting purposes, you would want a very detailed record of occurrences within the Information Store, and hence set a high logging level. However, normally you would want to log only events that are critical, so set a lower logging level for everyday operation.
From Here...
The information stores are the Exchange databases that hold all the data in an Exchange organization. The private information store holds all the information in user mailboxes. The public information store holds public folders and also handles folder replication. Replication of public folders to other sites reduces network traffic between sites when a folder is used often. The information store configuration is handled through the following property pages:
1. Information Store Site configuration
2. Private Information Store
3. Public Information Store
For technical support for our books and software contact support@mcp.com
Copyright ©1996, Que Corporation
