Exchange 2003 MDBDATA folder, STF files filling the drive, not being removed
Exchange 2003 MDBDATA folder, STF files filling the drive, not being removed
February 20th, 2011 5:01pm
How many are you seeing and what is the time that these files span? These are temporary files used by exchange for content conversion and should clear on their own. If you restart the information store, these should also clear. How long
has this been happening? I suggest you restart the IS service and see if you experience the same problem with them not deleting themselves.Tim Harrington | MVP: Exchange | MCITP: EMA 2007/2010, MCITP: Server 2008, MCTS: OCS | Blog: http://HowDoUC.blogspot.com | Twitter: @twharrington
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February 20th, 2011 6:47pm
The physical server was restarted this morning 7:30am Eastern. Zero STF files at that time. Currently 2:50 pm Eastern and the server had 269 STF files when I started typing, 276 now.
All STF files have timestamps of today with update times within the last hour.
We have been having problems of this nature since 2/16/11, the machine was running fine with no recent changes prior to that.
February 20th, 2011 10:52pm
This has been resolved
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February 22nd, 2011 8:18pm
On Fri, 9 Mar 2012 11:52:19 +0000, TSAM wrote:
>
>
>Hello,
>
>I have Exchange 2003 with Windows 2003 running in a cluster. Transaction logs and MDBdata volumes are on a SAN. For past two weeks we are seeing considerable performance degradation with .STF files filling the local drive where Exchange server binaries
are located. {for example: c:\Program Files\ Exchsrvr\}. One thing I noticed this .STF files will fill in the local drive at location C:\Program Files\Exchsrvr\MDBDATA\ within minutes and could fill up the entire local drive. I tried moving the cluster to
a second node and the same thing happened. There is no files in MDBDATA other than .STF files for that day. Is there a way to dictate .STF file location to a SAN? What is the reason for the .STF file to accumualte on local drive? Anti Virus on this server
is completely disabled from the registry.
>
>I will appreciate any insights to this.
What those STF files are:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/258542
Have you excluded the directory from any AV scanning? Those temporary
files should disappear once they're closed. If AV has them locked that
won't happen.
The location of the INBOUND working directory can be found (and
changed) here:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSExchangeIS\ParametersSystem
Value name: Working Directory
Value type: REG_SZ
Value data: C:\Program Files\Exchsrvr\MDBDATA <== CHANGE THIS
The directory you substitute in the "Value data" must already exist.
After you change the value you must restart the Information Store
service.
To change the location of the working directory for OUTBOUND mail
conversion you change the system's TEMP environment variable to the
desired directory.
---
Rich Matheisen
MCSE+I, Exchange MVP
--- Rich Matheisen MCSE+I, Exchange MVP
March 10th, 2012 5:31am
On Sat, 10 Mar 2012 17:30:14 +0000, TSAM wrote:
>AV is completed stopped from services and at the registry thus I could hash AV causing this pileup.
The service being stopped doesn't disable the file sytem drivers.
Remove/uninstall the AV.
>My MDBData folder and edb files are on a SAN. Default MDBData folder has only .STF of today and it gets eventually deleted, not sure what is causing the pileup. I opened a case with MS and MS couldn't even pin the cause.
At what time do they disappear? Is there some event that happens on
the server (a service stopping, for example)?
You can use Process Explorer to find out if there's an open file
handle for any of those files:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896653.aspx
Use the "Find" menu and put the fullpath of one of thos STF files in
there. If it's not an open file you should be able to delete it --
which probably means that the AV had the file when the Information
Store closed it.
>Will changing inbound or outbound working directory to a SAN volume cause any sort of issues?
Not that I'm aware of. They're just another directory.
>I am not worried about IOPS as my array is a FC SAN with 8GB throughput. Also, can I change the inbound and outbound working directory to the same SAN volume where priv and pub edb are located?
Sure. They're both on the local C: drive right now!
---
Rich Matheisen
MCSE+I, Exchange MVP
--- Rich Matheisen MCSE+I, Exchange MVP
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
March 10th, 2012 9:28pm
Thanks Rich.
AV is completed stopped from services and at the registry thus I could hash AV causing this pileup.
My MDBData folder and edb files are on a SAN. Default MDBData folder has only .STF of today and it gets eventually deleted, not sure what is causing the pileup. I opened a case with MS and MS couldn't even pin the cause.
Will changing inbound or outbound working directory to a SAN volume cause any sort of issues? I am not worried about IOPS as my array is a FC SAN with 8GB throughput. Also, can I change the inbound and outbound working directory to the same SAN volume where
priv and pub edb are located?
TIATom
April 28th, 2012 1:47pm
On Sat, 10 Mar 2012 17:30:14 +0000, TSAM wrote:
>AV is completed stopped from services and at the registry thus I could hash AV causing this pileup.
The service being stopped doesn't disable the file sytem drivers.
Remove/uninstall the AV.
>My MDBData folder and edb files are on a SAN. Default MDBData folder has only .STF of today and it gets eventually deleted, not sure what is causing the pileup. I opened a case with MS and MS couldn't even pin the cause.
At what time do they disappear? Is there some event that happens on
the server (a service stopping, for example)?
You can use Process Explorer to find out if there's an open file
handle for any of those files:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896653.aspx
Use the "Find" menu and put the fullpath of one of thos STF files in
there. If it's not an open file you should be able to delete it --
which probably means that the AV had the file when the Information
Store closed it.
>Will changing inbound or outbound working directory to a SAN volume cause any sort of issues?
Not that I'm aware of. They're just another directory.
>I am not worried about IOPS as my array is a FC SAN with 8GB throughput. Also, can I change the inbound and outbound working directory to the same SAN volume where priv and pub edb are located?
Sure. They're both on the local C: drive right now!
---
Rich Matheisen
MCSE+I, Exchange MVP
--- Rich Matheisen MCSE+I, Exchange MVP
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
April 28th, 2012 2:45pm
Thanks again Rich,
I will try out your suggestions and reply back. Tom
April 28th, 2012 9:32pm
On Fri, 9 Mar 2012 11:52:19 +0000, TSAM wrote:
>
>
>Hello,
>
>I have Exchange 2003 with Windows 2003 running in a cluster. Transaction logs and MDBdata volumes are on a SAN. For past two weeks we are seeing considerable performance degradation with .STF files filling the local drive where Exchange server binaries
are located. {for example: c:\Program Files\ Exchsrvr\}. One thing I noticed this .STF files will fill in the local drive at location C:\Program Files\Exchsrvr\MDBDATA\ within minutes and could fill up the entire local drive. I tried moving the cluster to
a second node and the same thing happened. There is no files in MDBDATA other than .STF files for that day. Is there a way to dictate .STF file location to a SAN? What is the reason for the .STF file to accumualte on local drive? Anti Virus on this server
is completely disabled from the registry.
>
>I will appreciate any insights to this.
What those STF files are:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/258542
Have you excluded the directory from any AV scanning? Those temporary
files should disappear once they're closed. If AV has them locked that
won't happen.
The location of the INBOUND working directory can be found (and
changed) here:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSExchangeIS\ParametersSystem
Value name: Working Directory
Value type: REG_SZ
Value data: C:\Program Files\Exchsrvr\MDBDATA <== CHANGE THIS
The directory you substitute in the "Value data" must already exist.
After you change the value you must restart the Information Store
service.
To change the location of the working directory for OUTBOUND mail
conversion you change the system's TEMP environment variable to the
desired directory.
---
Rich Matheisen
MCSE+I, Exchange MVP
--- Rich Matheisen MCSE+I, Exchange MVP
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
April 28th, 2012 9:49pm
Hello,
I have Exchange 2003 with Windows 2003 running in a cluster. Transaction logs and MDBdata volumes are on a SAN. For past two weeks we are seeing considerable performance degradation with .STF files filling the local drive where Exchange server binaries are
located. {for example: c:\Program Files\ Exchsrvr\}. One thing I noticed this .STF files will fill in the local drive at location C:\Program Files\Exchsrvr\MDBDATA\ within minutes and could fill up the entire local drive. I tried moving the cluster to a second
node and the same thing happened. There is no files in MDBDATA other than .STF files for that day. Is there a way to dictate .STF file location to a SAN? What is the reason for the .STF file to accumualte on local drive? Anti Virus on this server is completely
disabled from the registry.
I will appreciate any insights to this.
TIATom
April 29th, 2012 7:07am