Minimum ESE cache has been manually changed

Topic Last Modified: 2006-01-16

The Microsoft® Exchange Server Analyzer Tool queries the Active Directory® directory service to determine the value of the msExchESEParamCacheSizeMin attribute for all mailbox store objects. If the Exchange Server Analyzer finds the value of the msExchESEParamCacheSizeMin attribute for any mailbox store to be more than 0, a non-default configuration message is displayed.

The Microsoft Exchange Information Store service uses the Extensible Storage Engine (ESE) cache as a buffer when writing store data to disk. Exchange 2000 Server uses a maximum cache size of 858 MB. Exchange Server 2003 dynamically determines the default value for the msExchESEParamCacheSizeMin property, based on the amount of physical random access memory (RAM) that is installed in the server.

For example, the maximum cache size for an Exchange Server 2003 computer that has the /3GB switch set in its boot.ini file is 896 MB. If the computer does not have the /3GB switch set, the maximum cache size is 576 MB.

You can use the following information to restore the msExchESEParamCacheSizeMin property to its original value:

If Exchange Server 2003 is running on Microsoft Windows Server™ 2003 and the server has 2 GB or more of RAM, msExchESEParamCacheSizeMin will be 131072 (512 MB).
If Exchange Server 2003 is running on Windows Server 2003 and the server has 768 MB or more but less than 2 GB of RAM, msExchESEParamCacheSizeMin will equal "RAM/4*(4*1024)".
If Exchange Server 2003 is running on Windows Server 2003 and the server has less than 768 MB of RAM, msExchESEParamCacheSizeMin will equal "RAM/8*(4*1024)".

For example:

Windows Server 2003 with 512 MB of RAM will have a default value for msExchESEParamCacheSizeMin of 16384 (4 KB pages).
Windows Server 2003 with 1 GB of RAM will have a default value for msExchESEParamCacheSizeMin of 65536 (4 KB pages).
Windows Server 2003 with 4 GB of RAM will have a default value for msExchESEParamCacheSizeMin of 131072 (4 KB pages).
If Exchange Server 2003 is running on Microsoft Windows® 2000 Server, no default value is set for msExchESEParamCacheSizeMin.

Caution:
If you incorrectly modify the attributes of Active Directory objects when you use Active Directory Service Interfaces (ADSI) Edit, the LDP (ldp.exe) tool, or another Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) version 3 client, you may cause serious problems. These problems may require that you reinstall Windows Server 2003, Exchange Server 2003, or both. Modify Active Directory object attributes at your own risk.

Caution:

If you incorrectly modify the attributes of Active Directory objects when you use Active Directory Service Interfaces (ADSI) Edit, the LDP (ldp.exe) tool, or another Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) version 3 client, you may cause serious problems. These problems may require that you reinstall Windows Server 2003, Exchange Server 2003, or both. Modify Active Directory object attributes at your own risk.

To correct this warning

Open an Active Directory editor, such as ADSI Edit.
Double-click the Configuration container.
Expand CN=Services.
Expand CN=Microsoft Exchange.
Expand CN=<Exchange Organization Name>.
Expand CN=Administrative Groups.
Expand CN=<Administrative Group Name>.
Expand CN=Servers.
Expand CN=<Exchange Server Name>.
Right-click CN=InformationStore, and then click Properties.
In the attributes field, scroll to and then double-click msExchESEParamCacheSizeMin.
In the Value field, type the value that you want to set. You can use the default formula and edit it for your situation. The value that you use must be a multiple of 32 MB.
Click OK, and then click OK again.
Close the Active Directory editor, and then restart the Microsoft Exchange Information Store service for the change to take effect.

For more information about tuning the msExchESEParamCacheSizeMin attribute, see the Microsoft Knowledge Base article 822894, "Jet Database Does Not Work Correctly During a Backup or During a Content Indexing Operation" (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=3052&kbid=822894).