An Exchange Server 2010 database store grows unexpectedly large

Consider the following scenarios.

Scenario 1

• You deploy a mailbox database store or a public folder database store in a Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 environment.
• You enable journaling in the Exchange organization.
• You create a journaling mailbox.
• You set the deleted item retention period to one day.

Scenario 2

• You deploy a mailbox database store in an Exchange Server 2010 environment.
• You use archival software to delete email messages from the mailboxes.

In either of these scenarios, the mailbox database store or the public folder database store may grow unexpectedly large.

This issue can occur if the Microsoft Exchange Information Store service does not remove the deleted messages from the database.

Cumulative update information

To resolve this issue, install the following update rollup:

Note In special cases, charges that are ordinarily incurred for support calls may be canceled if a Microsoft Support Professional determines that a specific update will resolve your issue. The typical support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for the specific update in question.

Note This fix is intended to fix one specific problem that may cause a database to grow larger than expected over time. There are many other scenarios that may cause unexpected database growth, and those must be addressed through other methods. Symptoms that indicate that you are seeing the orphaned deleted item problem include the following. (If you experience these symptoms, this fix may help.)

• The database grows fairly steadily over time.
• The size of the database is far larger than the reported size of the mailboxes, and the database has little white space.
• The mailbox store that stores the journaling mailbox grows indefinitely.
• You use a product that bulk-deletes messages out of the store, such as an archival product.

For more troubleshooting information, visit the following Microsoft TechNet website:

The issue that is described in the “Symptoms” section may affect any Exchange Server 2010 environment. However, this issue typically occurs when one or more of the following conditions are true:

• A journaling mailbox is deployed in the Exchange Server 2010 environment.
• A third-party email message archival system is used.

For more information about how to create and configure a journaling mailbox, visit the following TechNet website: For more information about how to configure deleted items retention and recoverable items quotas, visit the following TechNet website: