You may find yourself in a situation where you will want to move either the Exchange 2000 transaction logs or the databases, or both, to another drive. This might happen because of storage limitations or for mailstore manageability, which could mean relocating high volume mailstores to their own dedicated disks. Before you move either the transaction logs or the databases to another drive, perform the following checks:
- Of course, make sure that the destination drive is large enough to accommodate the files.
- Conduct some tests on the hard drive to ensure proper functionality.
- Ensure that the folders on the destination drive have the necessary permissions.
It is always advisable that before performing any of the procedures listed below you do a full backup of the Exchange databases and transaction logs. Also note that during the move the mail store will be dismounted so you should make sure that the server is inaccessible to users.
Moving the transaction logs
- Open the Exchange System Manager.
- Locate the Storage Group that contains the logs you want to move.
- Right-click the storage group and select properties.
- Click the General tab. In here you will notice that the transaction log location and system path location both point to the same drive. It is recommended that during the move they both point to the same destination drive. For example, if the current location is drive e: and you want to move the files to drive f:, then both the transaction logs and system paths should point to drive f:.
- Click the Browse button to select the new location for the transaction logs.
Moving the databases
- In System Manager go to the mailstore that you would like to move.
- Right-Click the store and select properties.
- Select the database tab. In here you will notice that the EDB and STM files are in the same locations. Again, it is recommended that you move both to the same destination drive.
- Once the locations are changed, click OK, then click yes when prompted to verify the changes.
- You will then be prompted that that the store will be temporarily dismounted thereby making it in accessible to any user.
- Click Yes to dismount the database and change its location. You can then manually move the files and then remount them.
Adesh Rampat has 10 years experience with network and IT administration. He is a member of the Association of Internet Professionals, the Institute for Network Professionals, and the International Webmasters Association. He has also lectured extensively on a variety of topics.
