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Q216076: XADM: Information Store Folders May Become Slow and Unresponsive

Article: Q216076
Product(s): Microsoft Exchange
Version(s): 1.0,1.21,4.0,5.0,5.5
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): exc4 exc5 exc55
Last Modified: 11-JUN-2002

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Exchange Server, versions 4.0, 5.0, 5.5 
- Microsoft Exchange 2000 Enterprise Server 
- Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server 
- Microsoft Extended Messaging Application Programming Interface (MAPI), version 1.0 
- Collaboration Data Objects (CDO), version 1.21 
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IMPORTANT: This article contains information about modifying the registry. Before you modify the registry, make sure to back it up and make sure that you understand how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For information about how to back up, restore, and edit the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

  Q256986 Description of the Microsoft Windows Registry

SYMPTOMS
========

When you try to open one or more folders in either the private or public
information store, the process may become very slow or unresponsive. This
behavior may manifest itself in the following ways:

- Client response is very slow if you access mail in a folder (for example, if
  you change the status of a item from read to unread, open an item, or delete
  an item).

- You receive Messaging Application Programming Interface (MAPI) error messages
  that include the phrase "Client Operation Failed."

- Log files in the Mdbdata folder grow at a steady rate and you observe very
  little change, if any, in the public folder resources or the mailbox
  resources.

- If you create a new folder and move the contents of the folder with the
  behavior to the new folder, you can resolve the issue for a few days, but the
  behavior later reoccurs.

- If you access particular folders, response is slow or problematic, but other
  folders in the same database respond as usual. This includes special folders
  such as gateway folders (for example, the Mts-in and Mts-out folders).


CAUSE
=====

Too many cached restrictions, back links, and searches are being placed on an
individual folder.

To determine if you are experiencing the behavior discussed in this article,
perform either one of the following tests:

IMPORTANT: Before you perform Test 1, ensure that you have a full online backup
of the information store, because Test 1 resets folder views on the server.

Test 1
------

1. Add the Reset Views registry value for either the public or private
  information store.

  WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious
  problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft
  cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry
  Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

  To add this value, perform one of the following procedures, as applicable:

   - The Public Information Store: To modify the registry key to change the
     Reset Views value for the public information store, perform the following
     steps:

     a. Start the Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe).

     b. Under the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE subtree, go to the following subkey:

  System\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSExchangeIS\ParametersPublic

     c. Add a Reset Views value of the REG_DWORD type.

     d. The default of the Reset Views value, without this registry entry, is
        0. Set the value to 1.

     e. Quit the Registry Editor.

   - "The Private Information Store": To modify the registry key to change the
     Reset Views value for the private information store, perform the following
     steps:

     a. Start the Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe).

     b. Under the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE subtree, go to the following subkey:

  System\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSExchangeIS\ParametersPrivate

     c. Add a Reset Views value of the REG_DWORD type.

     d. The default of the Reset Views value, without this registry entry, is
        0. Set the value to 1.

     e. Quit the Registry Editor.

2. Stop the information store service, and then restart it.

If this value exists and is set to a non-zero value, the information store
deletes all of the cached restrictions on the next cleaning interval (during
information store maintenance) and resets the value to zero. You can determine
if this has occurred; check the registry key to see if the value has been reset
to zero. After deletion of the cached restrictions occurs, if the performance of
the folder is greatly improved, you are experiencing the behavior discussed in
this article.

Test 2
------

1. Stop the information store.

2. At a command prompt, go to the Exchsrvr\Bin folder and run the following
  command:

  isinteg -pri|pub -dump -l logfilename

  WARNING: This command dumps details of all of the folders in the specified
  database. Depending on the size of the database, the log file that is
  produced may be quite large.

3. Examine the log file and look for any folders with large numbers of entries
  under the following fields:

  Search FIDs=
  Recursive FIDs=
  Search Backlinks=
  Categ FIDs=

  For example:

  Search FIDs=0001-000000000418,0001-00000000041B,0001-000000000421,
  0001-000000000423,0001-000000000424,0001-000000000428,0001-00000000042D

  If this continues for several hundred entries, you are experiencing the
  behavior discussed in this article.

WORKAROUND
==========

To work around this behavior, decrease the "Aging Keep Time" value for the
affected database (either the public or private information store) from the
default of 8 days to 1 day.

Aging Keep Time
---------------

To decrease this value, perform one of the following procedures, as applicable:

- Public Information Store: To modify the registry key to change the Aging Keep
  Time value for the public information store:

  1. Start the Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe).

  2. Under the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE subtree, go to the following subkey:

  System\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSExchangeIS\ParametersPublic

  3. Add an Aging Keep Time value of the REG_DWORD type.

  4. The default for the Aging Keep Time value, without this registry entry, is
     8 days. Exchange Server 4.0 and 5.0 store this value in milliseconds (8
     days in milliseconds is 691,200,000: 1000*60*60*24*8 = 691,200,000), and
     Exchange Server 5.5 stores this value in seconds (8 days in seconds is
     691,200: 60*60*24*8 = 691,200). To set the new "Aging Keep Time" value to
     1 day, set the value to either 86,400,000 for Exchange Server 4.0 and 5.0,
     or 86,400 for Exchange Server 5.5. If you require a lower value, be sure
     you remember that Exchange Server 4.0 and 5.0 use milliseconds, and
     Exchange Server 5.5 uses seconds.

     NOTE: This value is entered as decimal.

  5. Quit the Registry Editor.

- Private Information Store: To modify the registry key to change the Aging
  Keep Time value for the private information store:

  1. Start the Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe).

  2. Under the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE subtree, go to the following subkey:

  System\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSExchangeIS\ParametersPrivate

  3. Add an Aging Keep Time value of the REG_DWORD type.

  4. The default for the "Aging Keep Time" value, without this registry entry,
     is 8 days. Exchange Server 4.0 and 5.0 store this value in milliseconds (8
     days in milliseconds is 691,200,000: 1000*60*60*24*8 = 691,200,000), and
     Exchange Server 5.5 stores this value in seconds (8 days in seconds is
     691,200: 60*60*24*8 = 691,200). To set the new "Aging Keep Time" value to
     1 day, set the value to either 86,400,000 for Exchange Server 4.0 and 5.0,
     or 86,400 for Exchange Server 5.5. If you require a lower value, be sure
     you remember that Exchange Server 4.0 and 5.0 use milliseconds, and
     Exchange Server 5.5 uses seconds.

     NOTE: This value is entered as decimal.

  5. Quit the Registry Editor.

  6. Stop the information store service, and then restart it.

If this value is still not low enough, then decrease the values until you reach
an acceptable level of performance. However, you also need to decrease the
"Aging Clean Interval" value from its default value of 1 day, as outlined in the
"Aging Clean Interval" section in this article.

Aging Clean Interval
--------------------

The "Aging Clean Interval" value is the interval (in seconds for Exchange Server
4.0, 5.0, and 5.5) at which the information store checks for anything that needs
to be removed from the cache. The default value is 24 hours (or 86,400 seconds).
To decrease the "Aging Clean Interval" value for either the public or private
information store, use one of the following methods, as applicable:

- "Public Information Store": To modify the registry key to decrease the Aging
  Clean Interval value for the public information store:

  1. Start the Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe).

  2. Under the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE subtree, go to the following subkey:

  System\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSExchangeIS\ParametersPublic

  3. Add an "Aging Clean Interval" value of the REG_DWORD type.

  4. The default of the "Aging Clean Interval" value, without this registry
     entry, is 86,400 (or 1 day in seconds, 60*60*24). Set the new "Aging Clean
     Interval" value to a number less than 86,400.

     NOTE: This value is entered as decimal.

  5. Quit the Registry Editor.

- "Private Information Store": To modify this registry key to change the "Aging
  Clean Interval" value for the private information store:

  1. Start the Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe).

  2. Under the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE subtree, go to the following subkey:

  System\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSExchangeIS\ParametersPrivate

  3. Add an Aging Clean Interval value of the REG_DWORD type.

  4. The default of the Aging Clean Interval value, if this registry entry is
     absent, is 86,400 (or 1 day in seconds, 60*60*24). Set the new "Aging
     Clean Interval" value to a number less than 86,400.

     NOTE: This value is entered as decimal.

  5. Quit the Registry Editor.

  6. Stop the information store service, and then restart it.

For example, to clear the cache twice a day, perform the following steps:

1. Set the "Aging Keep Time" value to a low setting (1 hour = 3,600 seconds).

2. Set the "Aging Clean Interval" value to 43200.

3. The cache is cleared during information store maintenance, so run information
  store maintenance every 12 hours.

For additional information about information store maintenance, click the article
number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

  Q159196 XADM: Tasks Controlled by the Information Store Maintenance Schedule

Running Isinteg
---------------

You can run the Isinteg utility to force cleanup of the cached restrictions
immediately. The following occurs:

- Your backlinks are purged.

- The restriction tables are deleted.

If there are a large amount of restrictions against a folder and you run the
isinteg -fix command, these cached searches are all cleared and your folder
performs normally.

  isinteg -fix -pri -test morefld

  Microsoft Exchange Information Store Integrity Checker v5.5.265
  Copyright (c) 1986-1997 Microsoft Corp. All rights reserved.
  Started: 04/28/00 19:06:08
  Server name: Server.domain.com
  Store path: D:\exchsrvr\MDBDATA\PRIV.EDB
  Store size: 1510031360 bytes
  Output log: isinteg.pri
  Check mode: check and fix
  Options: -fix -pri -test morefld

  Starting test 1 of 3, 'Categorization Tables'
  Finished Categorization Tables. Time: 0h:0m:0s
  Starting test 2 of 3, 'Restriction Tables'
  Finished Restriction Tables. Time: 0h:0m:0s
  Starting test 3 of 3, 'Search Folder Links'
  Finished Search Folder Links. Time: 0h:0m:23s
  No reference count tests

MORE INFORMATION
================

There are two methods you can use to search on a folder with Extended MAPI, the
Restrict() method and the FindRow() method. The Restrict() method caches the
restriction on that folder and is not removed for several days. If the view,
filter, or search is using an ever-changing primary index, a new restriction is
added each time that the folder is called. This can lead to a severe decrease in
the performance of the folder, because every time a change is applied, all the
back links have to be accessed.

For additional information about controlling folder index aging, click the
article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

  Q159197 XADM: Controlling Folder Index Aging

Collaboration Data Objects (CDO) 1.21 can also cause the problem. CDOs
MessageFilter object is implemented as a MAPI Restrict. If possible, CDO code
which relies on MessageFilter should be replaced with equivalent Extended MAPI
code using FindRow. This is not always possible though. For instance, CDO code
which searches appointments cannot be replaced with Extended MAPI because
Extended MAPI does not understand appointment items. In this case, the CDO code
should be reevalutated to see if the number of different MessageFilters can be
reduced.


Additional query words: poor slow outlook filter blackberry bes restrict

======================================================================
Keywords          : exc4 exc5 exc55 
Technology        : kbAudDeveloper kbCDOsearch kbMAPISearch kbExchangeSearch kbExchange500 kbExchange550 kbExchange400 kbZNotKeyword kbZNotKeyword2 kbExchange2000Search kbCDO121 kbExchange2000Serv kbExchange2000EntServ kbMAPIExt
Version           : :1.0,1.21,4.0,5.0,5.5
Issue type        : kbprb

=============================================================================

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