I would like to run eseutil on mymailstores in our exchange environment but down time is a concern as we have a 24 hr SLA.I can work in a window of time but Iwant to know the general GB/hour rate of execution.or example how log would it take to run eseutil on an edb that is 100GB and has not been compacted for 4 yrs?Also, is it possible to copy the db and place it on a different machine then run the util on the copy of the db to test how long it will take to compact? That way I can test the utility's rate without doing it on my live db.Is there a different ration for the stm MIME db, or does it compact at about the same rate as the edb?

It is approximate 10GB per hour but it also depends on the hardware resources, size of white space in edb/stm file (you can check event id 1221 for it) also. Yes, you can copy the edb/stm file on another server and can run defrag there. BTW, why are you defraging database? You should first check event 1221 for available white space in database, that is the approx amount of size which will be compacted after defrag. Defrag will take care about stm file also if it is available at same place. Similar Discussion:http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/exchangesvradmin/thread/75273abb-56bc-4e6f-b84c-f28aab2843fa/#3f3f20e1-5b48-4b44-b672-c51f6d887188 BTW, which version of Exchange do you use? 2003? If you have enterprise edition of Exchange 2003 then you can create a new storage group and DB and move all mailboxes to it which will indirectly compact the size of DB. Similar Discussion:http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/exchangesvradmin/thread/e5c09707-d674-457a-bf14-7ebcfabbdf13/#b02ab9e6-65bf-4379-9afb-42a755dacd3aAmit Tank | MVP - Exchange | MCITP:EMA MCSA:M | http://ExchangeShare.WordPress.com

Solid Plan by Amit, Even we can move the database to RSG, mount the production store with blank mailbox store and merge the contents of the RSG Mailbox to Product Store.Using Recovery Storage Groups in Exchange Server 2003http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa998782(EXCHG.65).aspxHow to Recover a Mailbox by Using a Recovery Storage Group (Exchange Server 2007)http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa997694.aspxArun Kumar | MCSE - 2K3 + Messaging | ITIL-F V3

Hey Arun, I thought of RSG method but I think it has a potential issue so I don't recommend it.... Do you remember we need to swap the database and thenmerge data from the dial tone database back into the original databaseotherwise we are in loss of rules, permission, custom views/search folders and hidden data in original mailboxes of users? ExMerge is not capable to recover those things from RSG to newly created blank database.... :) Considerations and best practices when resetting an Exchange mailbox database http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=282496 Amit Tank | MVP - Exchange | MCITP:EMA MCSA:M | http://ExchangeShare.WordPress.com

Yes you're right - I don't recommend ExMerge either :)Arun Kumar | MCSE - 2K3 + Messaging | ITIL-F V3