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75 GB limit in Windows Server 2003 R2


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Guest Harold Naparst
Posted

What is the meaning of the 75 GB storage limit in Windows Server 2003 R2?

Does that mean that the sum of the whole company's mail in Exchange, files,

etc cannot exceed 75 GB? Seems absurd. An average user has about 5 GB of

mail, so this would mean that if the company exceeds 15 people, we can't use

this product or would need to buy more servers.

 

Harold

Guest greatbarrier86
Posted

RE: 75 GB limit in Windows Server 2003 R2

 

Are you sure it doesnt mean 1 file cannot be larger than 75GB? I'm certain

that what you are writing has to be incorrect.

 

"Harold Naparst" wrote:

> What is the meaning of the 75 GB storage limit in Windows Server 2003 R2?

> Does that mean that the sum of the whole company's mail in Exchange, files,

> etc cannot exceed 75 GB? Seems absurd. An average user has about 5 GB of

> mail, so this would mean that if the company exceeds 15 people, we can't use

> this product or would need to buy more servers.

>

> Harold

Guest Harold Naparst
Posted

RE: 75 GB limit in Windows Server 2003 R2

 

Probing a bit more, I found out that it means that a single database

cannot exceed 75 gb. There are two databases in Exchange Standard and SBS:

The mailbox database, which is one database for all users.

The other database is for public folders, files and such.

 

So the upshot is that the sum of everyone's email cannot exceed 75GB.

That is a fact. Apparently, until recently, the number used to be 16GB,

if you can imagine that.

 

Now, with Exchange SP2, Microsoft is making a big deal about how they

have increased the limit to 75 GB, which is still absurd. We operate a

marketing

organization, and all our emails include pictures. Every user has a

tremendous

amount of email.

 

Basically, you have to buy Exchange Enterprise, which has no limits.

 

 

 

"greatbarrier86" wrote:

> Are you sure it doesnt mean 1 file cannot be larger than 75GB? I'm certain

> that what you are writing has to be incorrect.

>

> "Harold Naparst" wrote:

>

> > What is the meaning of the 75 GB storage limit in Windows Server 2003 R2?

> > Does that mean that the sum of the whole company's mail in Exchange, files,

> > etc cannot exceed 75 GB? Seems absurd. An average user has about 5 GB of

> > mail, so this would mean that if the company exceeds 15 people, we can't use

> > this product or would need to buy more servers.

> >

> > Harold

Guest Hank Arnold (MVP)
Posted

Re: 75 GB limit in Windows Server 2003 R2

 

In-line

 

--

 

Regards,

Hank Arnold

Microsoft MVP

Windows Server - Directory Services

 

Harold Naparst wrote:

> Probing a bit more, I found out that it means that a single database

> cannot exceed 75 gb. There are two databases in Exchange Standard and SBS:

> The mailbox database, which is one database for all users.

> The other database is for public folders, files and such.

 

If you had read the specs for the software, you would have realized that

was a limitation of the Standard Edition.

>

> So the upshot is that the sum of everyone's email cannot exceed 75GB.

> That is a fact. Apparently, until recently, the number used to be 16GB,

> if you can imagine that.

 

I can imagine it... A lot of organizations don't need huge e-mail

databases....

>

> Now, with Exchange SP2, Microsoft is making a big deal about how they

> have increased the limit to 75 GB, which is still absurd.

 

Why is that absurd? that is a huge amount of data and meets the

requirements of many, if not most, organizations.

>................................................. We operate a marketing

> organization, and all our emails include pictures. Every user has a

> tremendous

> amount of email.

>

> Basically, you have to buy Exchange Enterprise, which has no limits.

 

Which is what you should have bought in the first place (and would have

if you had read the specs)....

>

>

>

> "greatbarrier86" wrote:

>

>> Are you sure it doesnt mean 1 file cannot be larger than 75GB? I'm certain

>> that what you are writing has to be incorrect.

>>

>> "Harold Naparst" wrote:

>>

>>> What is the meaning of the 75 GB storage limit in Windows Server 2003 R2?

>>> Does that mean that the sum of the whole company's mail in Exchange, files,

>>> etc cannot exceed 75 GB? Seems absurd. An average user has about 5 GB of

>>> mail, so this would mean that if the company exceeds 15 people, we can't use

>>> this product or would need to buy more servers.

>>>

>>> Harold

Guest Leythos
Posted

RE: 75 GB limit in Windows Server 2003 R2

 

In article <4797A960-51AE-4D33-87DE-F22938BE95F8@microsoft.com>,

HaroldNaparst@discussions.microsoft.com says...

> Now, with Exchange SP2, Microsoft is making a big deal about how they

> have increased the limit to 75 GB, which is still absurd. We operate a

> marketing

> organization, and all our emails include pictures. Every user has a

> tremendous

> amount of email.

 

Then you should be using PDF's and links to your website instead of

sending BIG emails.

 

A properly designed solution would put minimal load on your email system

and still provide access to all of your marketing materials.

 

--

 

Leythos

- Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum.

- Calling an illegal alien an "undocumented worker" is like calling a

drug dealer an "unlicensed pharmacist"

spam999free@rrohio.com (remove 999 for proper email address)

Guest Harold Naparst
Posted

RE: 75 GB limit in Windows Server 2003 R2

 

 

> Then you should be using PDF's and links to your website instead of

> sending BIG emails.

 

It is not realistic to control everyone's behavior in the company,

as well as the people sending us mail. The IT department can hardly

attempt to educate users about how to create PDF files from their

rasterized graphics files or upload the pictures to a server and just send

the links.

 

I agree that there are ways to reduce the size of outgoing emails, but

users are not likely to prioritize such efforts. Many users prefer to mail

attachments or important files to themselves instead of storing them in

their home directories. They find it easier to search within Outlook for

what they are looking for rather than in the file manager.

 

Overall, Outlook is replacing the filesystem. Sometimes they don't

know what a file is called, but they know who sent it to them. Or a person

asks them for the file that they sent two weeks ago. It is just easier

to keep the file with the email.

 

I find it insulting that Microsoft would place limits in their software

like this. It is a good argument for open source.

 

Google provides 7 GB of space. So 75 GB would work for about a

10 person company, if that company doesn't plan on growing.

> A properly designed solution would put minimal load on your email system

> and still provide access to all of your marketing materials.

 

Hard to see how a better software design could change users behavior

if this is what you are saying.

Guest Leythos
Posted

RE: 75 GB limit in Windows Server 2003 R2

 

In article <AF72AFCB-CA3D-4E9F-867E-A12185FF4165@microsoft.com>,

HaroldNaparst@discussions.microsoft.com says...

>

>

> > Then you should be using PDF's and links to your website instead of

> > sending BIG emails.

>

> It is not realistic to control everyone's behavior in the company,

> as well as the people sending us mail. The IT department can hardly

> attempt to educate users about how to create PDF files from their

> rasterized graphics files or upload the pictures to a server and just send

> the links.

>

> I agree that there are ways to reduce the size of outgoing emails, but

> users are not likely to prioritize such efforts. Many users prefer to mail

> attachments or important files to themselves instead of storing them in

> their home directories. They find it easier to search within Outlook for

> what they are looking for rather than in the file manager.

>

> Overall, Outlook is replacing the filesystem. Sometimes they don't

> know what a file is called, but they know who sent it to them. Or a person

> asks them for the file that they sent two weeks ago. It is just easier

> to keep the file with the email.

>

> I find it insulting that Microsoft would place limits in their software

> like this. It is a good argument for open source.

 

I find it insulting that with the limits being known and documented,

that any respectable IT person would suggest that MS is being

unreasonable, instead of just owning up to having a bad business process

or methodology - you're there to fix things, not continue broken

practices.

 

Since the bumped it from 16GB to 75GB it's been even more valuable to

businesses that properly trained their employees and setup automatic

limits.

 

Outlook at NOT become a file system and will never replace one, except

for the uneducated people.

> Google provides 7 GB of space. So 75 GB would work for about a

> 10 person company, if that company doesn't plan on growing.

 

And most external companies let you purchase well more than that - A

base package with Road Runner Business class includes 100GB, and GoDaddy

also offers more storage if needed.

 

No matter how you look at it, your method is bad and needs to be

changed.

> > A properly designed solution would put minimal load on your email system

> > and still provide access to all of your marketing materials.

>

> Hard to see how a better software design could change users behavior

> if this is what you are saying.

 

Not software, better understanding and planning around such a critical

part of your business. Exchange was never a solution for your needs, it

the wrong solution, completely. Your solution is to change the broken

business process or pay for a larger scale version of Exchange and then

all the extra space you will need - and you will still have the same

problem. You need to change the business process to fit what you are

doing, that's the first place to start - and yes, it means training

people to stop being a bad method.

 

--

 

Leythos

- Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum.

- Calling an illegal alien an "undocumented worker" is like calling a

drug dealer an "unlicensed pharmacist"

spam999free@rrohio.com (remove 999 for proper email address)

Guest Harold Naparst
Posted

RE: 75 GB limit in Windows Server 2003 R2

 

I can see how if the company set, say a 2 GB limit on mail,

then when they run out of space they would ask for an increase.

 

Then, what are you suggesting? How exactly would a user upload

their pictures to the company extranet for public access?

Or perhaps you mean they would upload to an intranet, but then

the external recipient could not access it.

 

I think that what would happen is this: They would use their

personal hotmail account to send the mail with the attachment.

In fact, they would probably abandon Exchange altogether because

they don't understand this upload/link process you are talking about.

I don't even understand it.

 

We are in the marketing business, not in the business of

training users to modify their behavior so it fits the limits of the

software.

 

It actually is not that easy to find out what the limits on

Exchange Standard are, by the way. If you go through the

product sheets, it just has a lot of statements about how it is appropriate

for SMEs, but no real description of what the limits are. That you

find out when you install the product.

 

But, that having been said, if there is in fact a way to make the

product work for us, I'm all ears. Maybe attachments can be automatically

stripped out, uploaded to a public web service, and replaced by links.

Guest Terry Drewes
Posted

Re: 75 GB limit in Windows Server 2003 R2

 

Maybe a 3rd party tool, to auto save attachments?

http://www.techhit.com/ezdetach/

 

BTW... we use their MessageSave product for archiving, and it works great!

 

 

Ciao!

~Terry

 

 

Harold Naparst wrote:

> I can see how if the company set, say a 2 GB limit on mail,

> then when they run out of space they would ask for an increase.

>

> Then, what are you suggesting? How exactly would a user upload

> their pictures to the company extranet for public access?

> Or perhaps you mean they would upload to an intranet, but then

> the external recipient could not access it.

>

> I think that what would happen is this: They would use their

> personal hotmail account to send the mail with the attachment.

> In fact, they would probably abandon Exchange altogether because

> they don't understand this upload/link process you are talking about.

> I don't even understand it.

>

> We are in the marketing business, not in the business of

> training users to modify their behavior so it fits the limits of the

> software.

>

> It actually is not that easy to find out what the limits on

> Exchange Standard are, by the way. If you go through the

> product sheets, it just has a lot of statements about how it is appropriate

> for SMEs, but no real description of what the limits are. That you

> find out when you install the product.

>

> But, that having been said, if there is in fact a way to make the

> product work for us, I'm all ears. Maybe attachments can be automatically

> stripped out, uploaded to a public web service, and replaced by links.

>

>

Guest - Michel
Posted

Re: 75 GB limit in Windows Server 2003 R2

 

Funny that there are quite a few serious responds to this posting.

 

Basically Harold, you sound your CEO who doesn't understand IT or your

neighbour I-hate-Microsoft-by-definition-please-give-me-open-source-kid.

Email is NOT a file archiving tool.

If your users can mail themselves mails with attachments of a particular

size, review your mail gateway software and harden policies. Let them bring a

(of course encrypted) memory stick to the IT department that will place the

data on the network if that is actually business related and necessary (of

course USB ports are locked down if you did your job well, so your users need

the iT dept for that).

Second, buy a arching tool like Enterprise Vault that will nicely archive

email and attachments out of the Exchange databases into an external

"database".

 

Third, if your Exchange server is really that heavy used it must be quite

mission critical. I wonder what your Recovery Time Objectives and Recovery

Point Objectives are for the server. Wish you good luck restoring a database

(or parts of that) from 75GB in a reasonable timeframe...

 

Last: perhaps you should talk to some real experts before you start posting

messages like you did...

 

Kind regards,

Michel

 

"Terry Drewes" wrote:

> Maybe a 3rd party tool, to auto save attachments?

> http://www.techhit.com/ezdetach/

>

> BTW... we use their MessageSave product for archiving, and it works great!

>

>

> Ciao!

> ~Terry

>

>

> Harold Naparst wrote:

> > I can see how if the company set, say a 2 GB limit on mail,

> > then when they run out of space they would ask for an increase.

> >

> > Then, what are you suggesting? How exactly would a user upload

> > their pictures to the company extranet for public access?

> > Or perhaps you mean they would upload to an intranet, but then

> > the external recipient could not access it.

> >

> > I think that what would happen is this: They would use their

> > personal hotmail account to send the mail with the attachment.

> > In fact, they would probably abandon Exchange altogether because

> > they don't understand this upload/link process you are talking about.

> > I don't even understand it.

> >

> > We are in the marketing business, not in the business of

> > training users to modify their behavior so it fits the limits of the

> > software.

> >

> > It actually is not that easy to find out what the limits on

> > Exchange Standard are, by the way. If you go through the

> > product sheets, it just has a lot of statements about how it is appropriate

> > for SMEs, but no real description of what the limits are. That you

> > find out when you install the product.

> >

> > But, that having been said, if there is in fact a way to make the

> > product work for us, I'm all ears. Maybe attachments can be automatically

> > stripped out, uploaded to a public web service, and replaced by links.

> >

> >

>

Guest DevilsPGD
Posted

Re: 75 GB limit in Windows Server 2003 R2

 

In message <MPG.21e33c5f4ab7d9ec989933@Adfree.usenet.com> Leythos

<void@nowhere.lan> wrote:

>Outlook at NOT become a file system and will never replace one, except

>for the uneducated people.

 

Also known as "end users", and more often then not "upper management"

 

They don't want to know why it's a bad idea, they just want it to work

and expect IT to figure it out.

 

*shrugs*

 

I see both sides.

Guest Leythos
Posted

Re: 75 GB limit in Windows Server 2003 R2

 

In article <720pn39q79p71tru0l4tvnt7gitcb2phin@4ax.com>,

spam_narf_spam@crazyhat.net says...

> In message <MPG.21e33c5f4ab7d9ec989933@Adfree.usenet.com> Leythos

> <void@nowhere.lan> wrote:

>

> >Outlook at NOT become a file system and will never replace one, except

> >for the uneducated people.

>

> Also known as "end users", and more often then not "upper management"

>

> They don't want to know why it's a bad idea, they just want it to work

> and expect IT to figure it out.

>

> *shrugs*

>

> I see both sides.

 

You can see BOTH sides, but if you really can, then you should be

explaining to them how it really is, not letting them continue down

their path of ills.

 

--

 

Leythos

- Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum.

- Calling an illegal alien an "undocumented worker" is like calling a

drug dealer an "unlicensed pharmacist"

spam999free@rrohio.com (remove 999 for proper email address)

Guest Shannon
Posted

Re: 75 GB limit in Windows Server 2003 R2

 

You need to develop an email policy and set quotas for mailbox size and

retention time. This will keep your size down to a reasonable limit. All

items too large or beyond retention time can be moved to a .pst file and

still accessed in outlook the same as they currently access them now, just

provides a method for archiving. The current users are definately out of

control if they maintain an average mailbox size of 5Gb. That is absurd.

Exchange is not designed to replace your file system and is crazy to think

that it will. You really need to update your knowledge on this subject and

come back.

 

"Leythos" wrote:

> In article <720pn39q79p71tru0l4tvnt7gitcb2phin@4ax.com>,

> spam_narf_spam@crazyhat.net says...

> > In message <MPG.21e33c5f4ab7d9ec989933@Adfree.usenet.com> Leythos

> > <void@nowhere.lan> wrote:

> >

> > >Outlook at NOT become a file system and will never replace one, except

> > >for the uneducated people.

> >

> > Also known as "end users", and more often then not "upper management"

> >

> > They don't want to know why it's a bad idea, they just want it to work

> > and expect IT to figure it out.

> >

> > *shrugs*

> >

> > I see both sides.

>

> You can see BOTH sides, but if you really can, then you should be

> explaining to them how it really is, not letting them continue down

> their path of ills.

>

> --

>

> Leythos

> - Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum.

> - Calling an illegal alien an "undocumented worker" is like calling a

> drug dealer an "unlicensed pharmacist"

> spam999free@rrohio.com (remove 999 for proper email address)

>

Guest DevilsPGD
Posted

Re: 75 GB limit in Windows Server 2003 R2

 

In message <1B665769-6862-4221-8792-E364A72DB6FA@microsoft.com> Shannon

<Shannon@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

>You need to develop an email policy and set quotas for mailbox size and

>retention time. This will keep your size down to a reasonable limit. All

>items too large or beyond retention time can be moved to a .pst file and

>still accessed in outlook the same as they currently access them now, just

>provides a method for archiving. The current users are definately out of

>control if they maintain an average mailbox size of 5Gb. That is absurd.

>Exchange is not designed to replace your file system and is crazy to think

>that it will. You really need to update your knowledge on this subject and

>come back.

 

PST files are a horrible solution as that requires some method of

keeping PST files backed up. It also means that data stored in a PST is

not available remotely, unless the user happens to copy their PSTs with

them to a laptop (and frankly, not everyone carries laptops, many users

work from their home PCs, so moving gigabyte sized PSTs is not only

wasteful, but it drastically increases the odds that one of those PCs

will be compromised)

 

I don't know about your company, but corporate policy at $DAYJOB is that

only data on servers is backed up, PCs are considered expendable, and we

do not attempt to recover data from workstations except in extraordinary

cases.

 

From a management point of view, it's far more effective to have users

leave mail on the mail server, store files on the file servers, both of

which have a high level of redundancy (as well as off-site backups).

Local storage simply isn't acceptable.

 

Storing PSTs on a LAN drive would appear to be an ideal fix, except that

it is explicitly not supported by Microsoft.

 

All that being said, I don't run a mail server which uses a single

monolithic database, so I will never be in a position of having to

recover a 70GB+ mail database -- Exchange's own design limitations may

make this design impractical in Exchange, but it certainly works in

several corporations where I've consulted over the years.

 

Average mailbox side is between 1GB-2GB, with many users archiving damn

near everything. We do not use email as a replacement for the file

system, but it's not at all uncommon for large files to be emailed in

and out of the organization -- Internally, we generally use file shares.

Guest Shannon
Posted

Re: 75 GB limit in Windows Server 2003 R2

 

I agree, .pst files are a mess and can lead to problems, but i was simply

suggesting it as a way for him to start to get a grip on his email issues.

My company does not allow for the use of pst files, anything in the email

account of 60 days old is removed automatically, and mailboxes of size

limits. Until he takes control of his email policy he will not solve the

problem.

 

"DevilsPGD" wrote:

> In message <1B665769-6862-4221-8792-E364A72DB6FA@microsoft.com> Shannon

> <Shannon@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

>

> >You need to develop an email policy and set quotas for mailbox size and

> >retention time. This will keep your size down to a reasonable limit. All

> >items too large or beyond retention time can be moved to a .pst file and

> >still accessed in outlook the same as they currently access them now, just

> >provides a method for archiving. The current users are definately out of

> >control if they maintain an average mailbox size of 5Gb. That is absurd.

> >Exchange is not designed to replace your file system and is crazy to think

> >that it will. You really need to update your knowledge on this subject and

> >come back.

>

> PST files are a horrible solution as that requires some method of

> keeping PST files backed up. It also means that data stored in a PST is

> not available remotely, unless the user happens to copy their PSTs with

> them to a laptop (and frankly, not everyone carries laptops, many users

> work from their home PCs, so moving gigabyte sized PSTs is not only

> wasteful, but it drastically increases the odds that one of those PCs

> will be compromised)

>

> I don't know about your company, but corporate policy at $DAYJOB is that

> only data on servers is backed up, PCs are considered expendable, and we

> do not attempt to recover data from workstations except in extraordinary

> cases.

>

> From a management point of view, it's far more effective to have users

> leave mail on the mail server, store files on the file servers, both of

> which have a high level of redundancy (as well as off-site backups).

> Local storage simply isn't acceptable.

>

> Storing PSTs on a LAN drive would appear to be an ideal fix, except that

> it is explicitly not supported by Microsoft.

>

> All that being said, I don't run a mail server which uses a single

> monolithic database, so I will never be in a position of having to

> recover a 70GB+ mail database -- Exchange's own design limitations may

> make this design impractical in Exchange, but it certainly works in

> several corporations where I've consulted over the years.

>

> Average mailbox side is between 1GB-2GB, with many users archiving damn

> near everything. We do not use email as a replacement for the file

> system, but it's not at all uncommon for large files to be emailed in

> and out of the organization -- Internally, we generally use file shares.

>

  • 2 weeks later...
Guest jeanjasons@lycos.com
Posted

Re: 75 GB limit in Windows Server 2003 R2

 

On 5 jan, 06:30, Shannon <Shan...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

> I agree, .pst files are a mess and can lead to problems, but i was simply

> suggesting it as a way for him to start to get a grip on his email issues.

> My company does not allow for the use of pst files, anything in the email

> account of 60 days old is removed automatically, and mailboxes of size

> limits. Until he takes control of his email policy he will not solve the

> problem.

>

> "DevilsPGD" wrote:

> > In message <1B665769-6862-4221-8792-E364A72DB...@microsoft.com> Shannon

> > <Shan...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

>

> > >You need to develop an email policy and set quotas for mailbox size and

> > >retention time. This will keep your size down to a reasonablelimit. All

> > >items too large or beyond retention time can be moved to a .pst file and

> > >still accessed in outlook the same as they currently access them now, just

> > >provides a method for archiving. The current users are definately out of

> > >control if they maintain an average mailbox size of 5Gb. That is absurd.

> > >Exchange is not designed to replace your file system and is crazy to think

> > >that it will. You really need to update your knowledge on this subject and

> > >come back.

>

> > PST files are a horrible solution as that requires some method of

> > keeping PST files backed up. It also means that data stored in a PST is

> > not available remotely, unless the user happens to copy their PSTs with

> > them to a laptop (and frankly, not everyone carries laptops, many users

> > work from their home PCs, so moving gigabyte sized PSTs is not only

> > wasteful, but it drastically increases the odds that one of those PCs

> > will be compromised)

>

> > I don't know about your company, but corporate policy at $DAYJOB is that

> > only data on servers is backed up, PCs are considered expendable, and we

> > do not attempt to recover data from workstations except in extraordinary

> > cases.

>

> > From a management point of view, it's far more effective to have users

> > leave mail on the mailserver, store files on the file servers, both of

> > which have a high level of redundancy (as well as off-site backups).

> > Local storage simply isn't acceptable.

>

> > Storing PSTs on a LAN drive would appear to be an ideal fix, except that

> > it is explicitly not supported by Microsoft.

>

> > All that being said, I don't run a mailserverwhich uses a single

> > monolithic database, so I will never be in a position of having to

> > recover a 70GB+ mail database -- Exchange's own design limitations may

> > make this design impractical in Exchange, but it certainly works in

> > several corporations where I've consulted over the years.

>

> > Average mailbox side is between 1GB-2GB, with many users archiving damn

> > near everything. We do not use email as a replacement for the file

> > system, but it's not at all uncommon for large files to be emailed in

> > and out of the organization -- Internally, we generally use file shares.

 

I agree to, pst files are horror.

And of course it stupid to archive 70GB+ in a mail database.

But it's far too simple to delete all email after 60 days! You need to

give tools to the users to archive email they want to keep. Or do they

print them out? I hope not.

How do you archive email that will be deleted after 60 days?

 

We've choosen to install the add in Outlook MailToFile

(http://www.mailtofile.com) and this solved all exchange size and backup

problems. All users archive their email as msg file in the directory

of their project. The Exchange database changed in thee weeks from 30

GB to 4 GB!

And the directory didn't grow that much. Besides we did have a lot of

old projects. All email and Worddocuments are now archived together

and moved to a second archive server. This server doesn't need the

same backup rules as our main file servers.

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