Exchange Server 2010 : Perform Essential Database Management (part 3) - Manage Database Settings

3. Manage Database Settings

In addition to managing the database files themselves, there are some settings that you will want to understand and know how to configure. These settings affect the database and some of the features that it uses. The settings that you will want to know how to configure are the database indexing settings, the size limits, and the associated Client Access server.

3.1. Configure Exchange Search

Exchange Search creates a full-text index on Mailbox databases. This gives users the ability to search across their email very quickly. Items are added to the index as they arrive, which means that the index is always up-to-date.

3.1.1. Enable and Disable Exchange Search

You can enable or disable Exchange Search for individual Mailbox databases or for the entire Mailbox server. By default, the index is enabled on all Mailbox databases. To disable Exchange Search for a database, you can use the Set-MailboxDatabase cmdlet in the EMS with the IndexEnabled parameter. Set the parameter to $True to enable Exchange Search or $False to disable it. The following example disables Exchange Search:

Set-MailboxDatabase "DB01" -IndexEnabled $False

To enable or disable Exchange Search for the entire Mailbox server, you just disable the service. You can disable the Exchange Search service using the EMS. Open the EMS and run the following commands to disable the service:

Stop-Service MSExchangeSearch
Set-Service MSExchangeSearch -StartupType Disabled

You can reenable the service by setting the StartupType parameter to Automatic and manually starting it. The following EMS commands will accomplish this:

Set-Service MSExchangeSearch -StartupType Automatic
Start-Service MSExchangeSearch

NOTE

Exchange Search is extremely efficient in Exchange Server 2010, and the Discovery feature relies on it being enabled. Before deciding to disable Exchange Search, ensure that you understand the implications.

3.1.2. Rebuild the Search Index

There may be times, such as in a data recovery scenario, where you will need to rebuild the Exchange Search index. The easiest way to rebuild this index is to use the PowerShell script that the Exchange team released with Exchange Server 2010.

This script is called ResetSearchIndex.ps1 and it's included in Exchange in the Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\Scripts folder. Run the script with the -Force parameter and either specify the database that you want to reset the index on or specify All if you want to rebuild the indexes on the entire server. The following example rebuilds the indexes on the database DB01:

cd "C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\V14\Scripts"
.\ResetSearchIndex.ps1 -Force DB01

In the following example, all indexes on the current Mailbox server are rebuilt:

cd "C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\V14\Scripts"
.\ResetSearchIndex.ps1 -Force -All

3.2. Configure Limits on a Database

In Exchange Server, you can set a hard limit on a database, and if that database reaches that limit, it is dismounted. By default on Exchange Server 2010 Standard Edition, there is a 50 GB limit on databases. On the Enterprise Edition of Exchange, there is no defined limit. However, you can use these steps to set one or raise the 50 GB limit in Standard Edition.

NOTE

If the database is in a database availability group (DAG), this limit is set on all copies of the database.

1. Log into a Mailbox server that contains a copy of the database.

2. Open the EMS and run the following command to get the GUID of the database:

   Get-MailboxDatabase DB01 | ft Name, GUID

   
   

   Example output is shown in Figure 8.

   Figure 8. Getting the GUID of a database

   

3. Open the Registry Editor by running regedit.exe from an elevated command prompt.

4. In the Registry Editor, browse to the following key:

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\ 
   
   MSExchangeIS\NameOfServer\Private-DatabaseGUID

   
   

5. Look for the Registry value Database Size Limit In GB.

   • If it already exists, you can simply edit the value to be the maximum size that you want the database to grow.

   • If the Registry value does not exist, you can create it by following the remainder of these steps.

6. In the Registry Editor, select Edit => New => DWORD (32-Bit) Value. When the value is created, name it Database Size Limit In GB, as shown in Figure 9.

   Figure 9. Creating the Registry key to set the database size limit

   

7. Double-click the Database Size Limit In GB Registry value to bring up the Edit dialog box. In the Value Data field, enter the database size limit that you want to use and click OK.

3.3. Associate a Client Access Server with a Mailbox Database

In Exchange 2010, Outlook clients now connect to Client Access servers instead of Mailbox servers. The Client Access server establishes a Remote Procedure Call (RPC) connection with the Mailbox server. Each database specifies the Client Access server that its users will use when connecting to it. When a Client Access server goes offline, you will need to ensure that the database is associated with a different Client Access server in the same site as the database, unless you are using a Client Access Server (CAS) array.

You can change the Client Access server that is associated with a mailbox database manually in the EMS using the Set-MailboxDatabase cmdlet with the RpcClientAccessServer parameter. When you specify this parameter, you can specify the name of a particular Client Access server, or you can specify the name of the load-balanced Client Access array.

The following command changes the Client Access server that connects to the database:

Set-MailboxDatabase DB01 -RpcClientAccessServer 

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