Last week one of the 2 databases automatically unmounted and we find a message in the event viewer thatone database reached 100 Gb. I created a new database in a new storage group and moved some large mailboxes. But the original database that was 100 Gb did not shrink. I found information that Microsoft recommends that the exchange database max size is 100 Gb in our situation. http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb331954.aspx I found these options: Move all users to a new database and delete the old oneI found this article: http://exchangeshare.wordpress.com/2008/05/21/exchange-2007-database-portability/ and this http://theessentialexchange.com/blogs/michael/archive/2008/04/30/Clean-Up-That-Store.aspx Offline database cleanuphttp://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa998863.aspx Change registry value to let databases growHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSExchangeIS\<SERVER NAME>\Private-<database GUID> Note: You can get the GUID of a database by running the following command in the Exchange Management Shell: Get-MailboxDatabase -Identity "<server name>\<storage group name>\<database name>" | Format-Table Name, GUID If the Database Size Limit DWORD exists for the subkey, change its value to the desired size in gigabytes. If the Database Size Limit DWORD does not exist for the subkey, create a new DWORD with that name, and then set its value to the desired size in gigabytes. We are having this config:- Client Access Server - Exchange 2007 SP1 Standard - Microsoft 2003 x64 Standard- Hub Transport Server - Exchange 2007 SP1 Standard - Microsoft 2003 x64 Standard- Mailbox Server - Exchange 2007 SP1 Standard - Microsoft 2003 x64 Standard What is the best solution? Are there more (better) options?Edit: I just found that the second database also is almostreaching the 100 Gb, we find messages in the eventlog about this.Any help is apriciated.

Hi,The 100Gb limit is just a guidance (a database size that can be backup'ed / restored within a reasonable time).If you want smaller databases create 2 databases for each of your existing databases and devide the mailboxes between these 2 new databases. When all mailboxes has been moved to the new databases you can delete the old databases.Leif

The Move all users to a new database and delete the old one method can shrink the database size without downtime The Eseutil /D method can shrink the original database size, but theres downtime I would prefer the first method, same as the suggestion from Leif

Thank you all four your replies. Is there also a way to view the real database size? The current database files stay 100 Gb, also after moving some mailboxes. But there should be some space left inside the database, where can i find this "freespace"?Roland

Refer below article to understand the math of database size and how to count... Understanding Exchange Databases Disk Consumption http://www.msexchange.org/articles/Exchange-Databases-Disk-Consumption.html Usually, EDB File size = Actual Mailboxes size + Deleted Items and Mailboxes size in dumpster + White Space (shows in the event id 1221 of application event log) Amit Tank | MVP Exchange Server | MCITP: EMA | MCSA: M | http://ExchangeShare.WordPress.com

Just search for event ID 1221 in Application event log. It will give you detail on the white space for each database. So actual size would be the total databse size minus the white space. Rakesh