SMTP queue is on the same drive as the system partition

SMTP queue is on the same drive as the system partition

The Microsoft® Exchange Server Best Practices Analyzer Tool queries Active Directory® directory service to determine the configured value for the msExchSmtpQueueDirectoryattribute.

The Exchange Server Best Practices Analyzer also queries the Win32_Service Windows® Management Instrumentation (WMI) class to determine the value of the Started key for the Simple Message Transfer Protocol (SMTP) service. A value of False indicates that the service is not running. A value of True indicates that the service is running. Additionally, the Exchange Server Best Practices Analyzer queries the Win32_OperatingSystem WMI class to determine the value of the WindowsDirectory key. The value of this key indicates the location of the Window system drive.

If the Exchange Server Best Practices Analyzer finds that the msExchSmtpQueueDirectoryattribute is configured with a path that includes the same drive as the system drive, and that the SMTP service is running, and Exchange is not running on Microsoft Windows Small Business Server Edition, a warning is displayed.

The msExchSmtpQueueDirectoryattribute represents the path for the SMTP queue folder, also known as the Mailroot folder. When messages arrive at the Exchange server through the SMTP service, the data is written to the hard disk as an .eml file. By default, these files are stored on the <drive>:/Program Files/Exchsrvr/Mailroot folder on the same partition on which Exchange is installed.

In some scenarios, such as when you configure a bridgehead server, you can increase the performance of the Exchange server if you move the SMTP Mailroot directory to a different hard disk or partition. As a best practice, the SMTP Mailroot folder should not be on the same drive as the Windows® system drive. Instead, it should be on a fast disk or fast disk subsystem for optimal performance.

While the Mailroot folder can be moved in Exchange System Manager on Exchange Server 2003 SMTP virtual server, moving it on an Exchange 2000 Server SMTP virtual server requires using a low-level Active Directory editor, such as ADSI Edit.

Warning :

If you use the ADSI Edit snap-in, the LDP tool, or any other LDAP version 3 client, and you incorrectly modify the attributes of Active Directory objects, you can cause serious problems. These problems may require that you reinstall Microsoft® Windows 2000 Server, Microsoft Windows Server™ 2003, Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server, Microsoft Exchange Server 2003, or both Windows and Exchange. Microsoft cannot guarantee that problems that occur if you incorrectly modify Active Directory object attributes can be solved. Modify these attributes at your own risk.

To correct this error on Exchange Server 2003

1.	Open Exchange System Manager.
2.	Expand Servers, expand an Exchange server, expand Protocols, and then expand SMTP.
3.	Right-click an SMTP virtual server (for example, Default SMTP Virtual Server), and then click Stop.
4.	Right-click the SMTP virtual server again, and then click Properties.
5.	Click the Messages tab.
6.	In the Queue directory field, specify the full path of the appropriate Mailroot folder. You can click Browse to browse the local computer for the path.
7.	Click OK to save the changes.
8.	Right-click the SMTP virtual server, and then click Start. The new location will be used immediately.

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To correct this error on Exchange 2000 Server

1.	Stop all the Exchange Server and IIS services on the Exchange 2000 Server computer whose SMTP virtual server Mailroot folder you want to modify.
2.	Modify the affected SMTP Virtual Server's value for msExchSmtpQueueDirectoryso that it is configured with the appropriate path.
3.	Wait for Active Directory to replicate this change to the global catalog servers used by this Exchange server.
4.	Start the Microsoft Exchange System Attendant service.
5.	On the Exchange Server computer, check for the presence of three instances of Event ID 1005 in the Application event log that have an Event Source of MSExchangeMU and a Category of General.
6.	Restart the Exchange Server computer for the changes to take effect.

For more information about both of the procedures that are described, see the following Microsoft Knowledge Base articles:

•	"How to change the Exchange 2003 SMTP Mailroot folder location," at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=3052&kbid=822933.
•	"XCON: How to Change the Exchange 2000 SMTP Mailroot Directory Location," at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=3052&kbid=318230.

For more information about SMTP virtual server settings, see the Microsoft Knowledge Base articles, "XCON: How to Configure a SMTP Virtual Server Part 1," at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=3052&kbid=266686 and "XCON: How to Configure a SMTP Virtual Server Part 2" at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=3052&kbid=268163.