How to add disk space to the data store on Exchange Server 2007

How to add disk space to the data store on Exchange Server 2007

I have an Exchange 2007 server that has run out of disk space and is not resolving with my DNS server. I'd like to add disk space to the data store, but I'm not sure how to go about it. How would you recommend upgrading the hard drives?

    Requires Free Membership to View

    Login

    When you register, you’ll also receive targeted alerts from my team of editorial writers and independent industry experts with the latest news, tips, and advice to help you do your job more efficiently and effectively. Our goal is to keep you informed on the hottest topics and biggest challenges faced by Exchange professionals today working with Exchange, Outlook and other related technologies.

    Margie Semilof, Editorial Director

    By submitting your registration information to SearchExchange.com you agree to receive email communications from TechTarget and TechTarget partners. We encourage you to read our Privacy Policy which contains important disclosures about how we collect and use your registration and other information. If you reside outside of the United States, by submitting this registration information you consent to having your personal data transferred to and processed in the United States. Your use of SearchExchange.com is governed by our Terms of Use. You may contact us at webmaster@TechTarget.com.

First off, whatever you do, don't start deleting transaction log files to free up disk space.

Second, you'll want to clearly understand what is causing the disk to fill up. However, I'm not sure what you mean by DNS resolution and why this would affect your disk. You need to understand what is happening and address the source of the problem. Failure to do so means adding disk space and may not solve your problem. If it's not a DNS problem, I would confirm whether you're doing Exchange-aware backups. Non-Exchange aware backups don't purge the transaction log files and are a common culprit in the scenario you describe.

The simplest solution -- once you've identified the source of the problem -- is to physically add storage to the drive that contains the database and log files. This is assuming that this is something you can easily do with your server hardware. You may end up having to temporarily move some mailboxes off the database in question -- but in any decent datacenter setup, adding storage shouldn't be a huge issue.

Do you have comments on this Ask the Expert Q&A? Let us know.

This was first published in January 2010

Back to top