In this post we are going to create some additional storage groups and mailbox databases on a default Exchange 2007 installation.
Creating an additional mailbox database
There are 2 ways to create mailbox databases with Exchange 2007. The first way to do it is using the GUI method. If you open up the Exchange Management console you need to go to the Server Configuration section and the section which you want is the Mailbox section. As its name suggests this is the Mailbox server role configuration section. Once there you will be presented with just one storage group and one database on a default Exchange 2007 installation.
The first task we are going to do is to create an additional database within the first storage group. You can do this in 3 different ways!! First first method is to right click on the storage group and select New Mailbox Database which will open an additional configuration screen where you can select configuration options
The configuration options for an mailbox database are the Mailbox Database name, and the database file path. As stated in previous posts try and keep the database on a separate disk than the log files are kept on. You can also select whether you wish to mount the store or not after installation. Select Next after you’ve entered your required configuration and you will be presented with a summary screen telling you whether the operation has been successful or not.
You will also notice on the summary screen that it shows the Powershell code for whatever you are doing as well which I think is pretty cool! I guess this way you can learn Powershell scripting as you do more administration through the GUI. You’ll become an expert before you know it!! Anyway, the Powershell code for creating a storage group through the configuration we have performed above is:
new-mailboxdatabase -StorageGroup ‘EXCHANGE\First Storage Group’ -Name ‘MAILBOX2’ -EdbFilePath ‘C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\Mailbox\First Storage Group\MAILBOX2.edb’
This creates the mailbox database then to mount it:
mount-database -Identity ‘CN=MAILBOX2,CN=First Storage Group,CN=InformationStore,CN=EXCHANGE,CN=Servers,CN=Exchange Administrative Group (FYDIBOHF23SPDLT),CN=Administrative Groups,CN=TEST,CN=Microsoft Exchange,CN=Services,CN=Configuration,DC=test,DC=local’
And after performing the above you can finally see your new mailbox database:
Creating an additional storage group
Now that we’ve created an additional mailbox database we are going to create an additional storage group. As mentioned previously different storage groups are good because that way you separate the transaction log files improving redundancy and performance. So how do we do it? Again you can do it from the GUI Exchange Management console or from the Exchange Management Shell (Powershell)
From the GUI you can create an additional storage group in 2 possible ways. First way is to go into the Mailbox server role configuration, Select the Exchange Server, right click on it and select New Storage Group
From this screen you can select different configuration options. The ones you can select are the name of the Storage Group, the log files path, the systems files path plus some other options which we will discuss in further posts. Click next and you will be presented with the summary screen
And voila you have a second storage group!! Notice though that it isnt mounted? This is because you have no database to mount
The Powershell script for performing the above actions is:
new-StorageGroup -Server ‘EXCHANGE’ -Name ‘Second Storage Group’ -LogFolderPath ‘C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\Mailbox\Second Storage Group’ -SystemFolderPath ‘C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\Mailbox\Second Storage Group’