Can anyone explain or point be to a resource that can explain: The process of .ci creation and maintenance within the Catalog folder on Exchange 2010 SP1 UR2. And how exchange captures the .ci files during a DB catalog seed request. I see that the .ci files are not created incrementally. I assume some files are created and then compressed into other .ci files during the normal indexing of exchange. Thanks - SJMP

The resource below will help Managing Mailbox Database Copies The procedure for initial seeding of content indexing files: 1. Target replication service will ask search service to mount content indexing catalog. If there’s no folder or the content is old , target replication service will tell search service to suspend indexing while requests a new from source 2. Request for catalog is sent from target replication service to source replication service 3. Source replication service asks for search directory information from search service and suspend indexing 4. Search service gives the information 5. Source replication service reads the search directory data 6. Source replication sends search data to target replication service, and then resume the indexing 7. Target replication service check the search directory, and deletes the existing files if has found 8. Target replication service put search data into “CiSeed.Temp” folder until transfer is completed 9. Target replication service put completed search data into final location 10. Target replication service asks to resume the indexing 11. Target replication service sends completion response back to EMS “After initial seeding, the server with the passive database copy gets message data from the server with the active database and performs content indexing locally” -----------Refer to <Understanding Exchange Search> James Luo TechNet Subscriber Support in forum If you have any feedback on our support, please contact tngfb@microsoft.com Please remember to click Mark as Answer on the post that helps you, and to click Unmark as Answer if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.

Thanks James, regarding the creation and merging of .ci files - any doc's on that? Specifically the creation sequence, master merge rules. And the way that a DAG target suspends the Active Server indexing on a -catalogonly seed request? Thanks SJMP

The resources about content indexing above are what I have found. And as for the master merge, I haven’t seen the difference between exchange 2007 and 2010 in articles Quote: “the way that a DAG target suspends the Active Server indexing on a -catalogonly seed request?” As I know, the “CatalogOnly” parameter is used to seed the index, not suspend it Resources: Introduction to Exchange 2007 Search Exchange 2007 CCR Search indexing REbuildPlease remember to click Mark as Answer on the post that helps you, and to click Unmark as Answer if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.