Question : Exchange 2003 database is constantly over the limit

I have bumped up our database limit to 75 gigs and we are now reaching the point where the database is oversized and dismounting every morning at 5 am.  A reboot of the machine brings everything back to normal but of course this procedure makes me nervous.  I look at our list of mailboxes and the number appears to add up to 70 gigs, when I look at the .edb file it shows as 79 gigs.  Does anyone know what would cause this?  Thanks

Answer : Exchange 2003 database is constantly over the limit

An offline defrag is not the answer here. The above answers are incorrect.

The limit in Exchange 2003 already takes in to account the whitespace when it comes to the enforcement of the limit. Therefore an offline defrag is not going to help.

If you are seeing 70gb in the mailbox list in ESM then you are doing well. ESM only shows the data in one of the database files, not both.

My blog posting on the subject of the database will explain what is happening.
http://blog.sembee.co.uk/archive/2009/07/21/105.aspx

Solutions?

There are three.

1. Upgrade to Exchange 2003 Enterprise edition.
2. Migrate to Exchange 2007/2010
3. Invest in some proper archiving software. I don't consider PST files to be an archiving solution.

You could also ask the users to remove the crap from their mailboxes, save attachments to the file server etc.

However long term, option 2 above is your best option. Exchange 2003 Enterprise is no longer available, so you would have to purchase Exchange 2007/2010 Enterprise and use downgrade rights. Exchange 2007/2010 standard supports effectively unlimited database sizes, so you would be purchasing a higher version just for downgrade rights which is a waste.

Simon.