Exchange Server Standard Maintenance Checklist

Exchange Server Standard Maintenance Checklist

Keep Windows up to date:

One of the most important tasks in maintaining your Exchange organization is keeping the Windows operating system up to date.

After all, Exchange Server is completely dependent on Windows. If a security weakness or software bug exists in Windows, there's a

good chance it will affect Exchange on some level as well.

Microsoft routinely releases patches for Windows that correct new bugs and security holes that have been discovered. Fortunately, you don't

have to constantly search the Web for the latest updates. Windows Server 2003 contains a feature called Windows Update, which allows

you to check for the latest patches and install them automatically. If you are depending on Windows Update for your software updates, I

recommend scanning for new ones at least three times per week. However, there are also many third-party applications available that

automate the patch management process.

Keep Exchange up to date:

Some administrators don't realize that Windows Update does not check for Exchange Server patches. The easiest way to check for any

Exchange updates is to run the Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer.

Microsoft also has another free tool called the Microsoft Exchange Best Practices Analyzer, which checks to make sure that your server is

running an optimal configuration, and that there are no potential problems on the horizon. Although this tool isn't technically designed to

help you to download software updates, I recommend taking the time to run it once per week.

Monitor disk space consumption:

As you are no doubt aware, Exchange Server is hungry for disk space. If Exchange runs out of disk space, the Information Store will shut down,

leaving you with no e-mail. It is therefore extremely important to keep tabs on the amount of free disk space on the server. You not only want

to monitor the volumes containing the Exchange databases, but also those volumes containing transaction logs.

Keep in mind that while running out of disk space is a big problem, letting the Exchange databases get too large is an even bigger problem.

Exchange Server 2003 Enterprise Edition doesn't impose an Information Store size limit, but all other versions of Exchange have a 16 GB limit. If

the Information Store reaches the 16 GB threshold, the repair process is very messy, so it's important to keep tabs on things so that ceiling is

never reached.

Monitor hardware utilization:

Monitoring the way Exchange is utilizing your server's hardware isn't something you need to do every day, but it is important to do once in a

while. As your user base grows, you may find that your server's CPU becomes overworked and that available memory starts to dwindle. So

run Performance Monitor about once a month to compare the current hardware utilization against the previous month's recorded utilization.

This will allow you to spot trends over the long term, so you can upgrade your server hardware before major performance problems arise.

Monitor and document license usage:

What would you do if the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) visited your office tomorrow and performed a software license

audit? If you aren't prepared for such an audit, the fines alone could be enough to drive your company out of business.

It is extremely important to keep accurate records of the number of employees who access your Exchange organization. You must ensure

that you have enough Windows Client Access Licenses, Exchange Client Access Licenses, Windows XP Licenses, and Microsoft Outlook

Licenses to accommodate the number of people who are accessing your Exchange server. Hopefully, you have an asset management

program that tracks software license compliance. If not, you should be updating your records every time you create remove a mailbox.

Perform regular backups:

Obviously, it's important to back up your Information Store in case your server ever crashes. Exchange backups are important for another

reason though. When Exchange receives a message, the message is not written directly to the Information Store, but rather to a transaction

log. Running an online backup forces the contents of the transaction logs to be committed to the Information Store. If you don't regularly back

up your Exchange server, the transaction logs can continue to grow until your server runs out of disk space.

Defragment the databases:

As messages are created and deleted, the Information Store becomes fragmented. Exchange 2000 and 2003 perform automated

defragmentation of the databases to help reduce the effects of fragmentation. The problem with this automatic defragmentation is that

free space within the database is never released. The only way to release the free space (and decrease the database's size) is to perform

an offline defragmentation. To do so, you will need to take the Information Store offline and run the ESEUTIL program with the /D

switch.

The volume containing the Information Store must have at least the size of the database that you are defragmenting, plus 10% in free space.

Therefore, if you had a 1 GB database, an offline defragmentation would require 1.1 GB of free disk space. The disk space will be returned to you

after the defragmentation is complete, but is needed as temporary work space. I recommend performing an offline defragmentation once every

one to two months.

Schedule periodic reboots:

Just as a database can become fragmented, so can the server's memory. The easiest way to get rid of the fragmentation is to reboot the

server. If your corporation's server availability policy will allow it, I recommend rebooting your Exchange server about once a month.

Let MOM help:

As you can see, there are a lot of things you can do to maintain a healthy Exchange environment. But one of the best things you can do is run

Microsoft Operations Manager. Although MOM can be a little pricey, it monitors thousands of aspects related to Windows and Exchange. If an

issue is encountered, MOM takes corrective action or alerts you to the issue before it has a chance to become a problem. In my opinion, MOM

is the ultimate maintenance tool.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:   Go back to checklist

Brien M. Posey, MCSE Brien is a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional for his work with Windows 2000 Server and IIS. He has served as CIO for a nationwide chain of hospitals and was once in charge of IT security for Fort Knox. As a freelance technical writer, he has written for Microsoft, TechTarget, CNET, ZDNet, MSD2D, Relevant Technologies and other technology companies.

Rate this Tip To rate tips, you must be a member of SearchExchange.com. Register now to start rating these tips. Log in if you are already a member. Digg This!     StumbleUpon     Del.icio.us    RELATED CONTENT Microsoft Exchange Server Backup and Disaster Recovery Third-party Exchange Server 2007 backup and restore tools Re-enable Exchange Server 2007 remote streaming backups in SP1 Managing an Exchange 2007 Cluster Continuous Replication (CCR) setup Managing an Exchange 2007 Single Copy Cluster (SCC) setup Managing Local Continuous Replication (LCR) in Exchange 2007 Can I back up Exchange Server with a POP3 hosted email server? How to back up and restore Exchange data with recovery storage groups An affordable Exchange Server database backup software option for SMBs Build a standby Exchange 2003 server to test disaster recovery Can a 'dormant' backup Exchange server be used as a failover server? Microsoft Exchange Server Backup and Disaster Recovery Research Microsoft Exchange Server Database Management Why boot an Exchange server from a storage area network (SAN)? DetachPipe: Outlook add-in tool saves and restores email attachments How to calculate white space in an Exchange streaming (.STM) file An affordable Exchange Server database backup software option for SMBs Solve server problems with the Exchange Troubleshooting Assistant tool iSCSI SAN storage for Microsoft Exchange -- 5 tips in 5 minutes Is an Exchange 2003 offline defrag needed prior to moving databases? How to move Exchange Server email folders to another disk on the same computer Should you use NTFS compression on Exchange Server files? Tame your Exchange Server transaction logs Microsoft Exchange Server Defragmentation How to calculate white space in an Exchange streaming (.STM) file Is an Exchange 2003 offline defrag needed prior to moving databases? Defragment Exchange information store database files Defragment Microsoft Outlook .PST files for better performance Should you use NTFS compression on Exchange Server files? Optimize Exchange Server 2003 database maintenance Running ESEUTIL to compact an information store without installing Exchange Server Top 10 Exchange tips of 2005 Virtual memory fragmentation in Exchange Using an external hard drive to defragment Exchange RELATED RESOURCES 2020software.com, trial software downloads for accounting software, ERP software, CRM software and business software systems Search Bitpipe.com for the latest white papers and business webcasts Whatis.com, the online computer dictionary DISCLAIMER: Our Tips Exchange is a forum for you to share technical advice and expertise with your peers and to learn from other enterprise IT professionals. TechTarget provides the infrastructure to facilitate this sharing of information. However, we cannot guarantee the accuracy or validity of the material submitted. You agree that your use of the Ask The Expert services and your reliance on any questions, answers, information or other materials received through this Web site is at your own risk.