Exchange 2003 SP2 maximum number of items in message store

[wilsond3010]

just wondering with exchange is there a maximum number of items for a message store so even if it's not reaching the 75gb max size could it still be a potential problem

we have a problem with the exchange server performance and end user latency since completing the migration to ev

i know i've got over 3 millions items archived into ev and about 1.6million came from pst ingestion

so with all those stubs now back in there mailbox under the pst archive folder and it's sub folders for each pst

I wonder if it could cause issues

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Also to be fair i have about 23 users who we are trying to get to do some house keeping as there inbox has over 10000 message in it alone and i know the recommendation per folder is around 2500

and that they could be the ones causing the latency for other users at a specific time

[Maverik · Accepted solution]

Hi There is no limit on number of items. Not sure about latency issues you mention. Sounds to me more like coincidence than anything else to be honest. Perhaps best to log a call with MS.

[bobby_hilliard]

we don't have size limits (!!) and there are a lot of pack rats around here with HUGE inbox folders. when everyone lands at there desk in the mornings, and fire up outlook, there are client-side latency issues. after monitoring the server rpc counters, i think it's collateral damage because of the sheer amount of rpc traffic and subsequent rendering of all those messages coupled with good old congestion on the network.

expire your shortcuts after a period of time to help thin out things. it's in my plans.

 

[bobby_hilliard]

If you're interested, this article has some rpc counters that you can monitor:

windowsitpro.com/article/articleid/101099/what-are-the-outlook-performance-counters-used-for.html 

And this is a link to a fine log-analyzer "script" that reads in your perfmon logs and formats very nicely:

www.codeplex.com/PAL 

Hope this helps.

[MichelZ]

Or use Cached Mode?

[wilsond3010]

will check the rpc traffic.

we are running cache and offline vault

[AndrewB]

wilsond3010,

what you're seeing is a performance issue with exchange and could certainly have been affected by the PST ingestion which, in turn, created the shortcuts. while there isn't a maximum number of messages per store that i'm aware of, there is a limit whith regards to performance. you'll probably want to do your best to get them down to 5000 (max) items per folder.

here's a good article from the exchange team: http://msexchangeteam.com/archive/2005/03/14/395229.aspx

[MichelZ]

OK, but cached mode should relieve the load from Exchange, shouldn't it?

[AndrewB]

he did say they're using cached mode, i missed that. so it might be client-side latency however, cached mode isn't going to help with delegates and share mailboxes, calendars, etc.
whatever the case, i think we can all agree that it's not EV :)

[MichelZ]

Of course ;)