How to Monitor Memory Usage on an Exchange Server

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You can use Event Viewer and Performance Logs and Alerts to monitor for virtual memory problems on an Exchange Server. For example, Event 9582 appears as a warning event in the application log when the largest free block of virtual memory decreases to 32 MB. If you see this warning, you should restart the Exchange store process at the next opportunity. If the largest block decreases to 16 MB, Event 9582 appears again as an error event, indicating that the server might fail soon, and that you should restart the server at the earliest opportunity. Failure to act on these events can cause sporadic mail delivery and IMAIL conversion failures.

In Performance Logs and Alerts, you should monitor counters listed in the following table.

Performance Object Performance Counter Details

MSExchangeIS

VM Largest Block Size

A healthy server has more than 200,000,000 bytes (200 MB) as the largest free block. If the value is lower, carefully monitor the server.

Memory

Pool Page Bytes

When the /3GB switch is used, amounts larger than 200 MB indicate a problem except when backups are running. During backups, each page in the cache manager is copied into the pool page, which causes an increase in pool page size.

Memory

Pool Nonpaged Bytes

When the /3GB switch is used, amounts larger than 100 MB indicate a problem.

Memory

Free System Page Table Entries

Amounts less than 3000 indicate a problem.

Process

Private Bytes

An upward trend indicates a potential memory leak.

Procedure

To look for Event 9582 in the Application event log

  1. Click Start, click All Programs, click Administrative Tools, and then click Event Viewer.

  2. In the left-hand pane, select Application.

  3. Right-click Application and select View | Filter….

  4. In the Event ID field of the Application Properties dialog, enter 9582 and click OK. If the Application event log includes any 9582 error or warning events, they will be displayed in the right-hand pane.

  1. Click Start, click All Programs, click Administrative Tools and then click Performance.

  2. In the Legend area, delete any counters that have been automatically added.

  3. Press CTRL+I to insert a counter.

  4. In the Performance object field, select the performance object you want to monitor. For example, select Memory.

  5. In the Select counters from list field, select the performance counter you want to monitor and click Add. For example, select Pool Paged Bytes and click Add.

  6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 for each performance object and counter you want to monitor.

  7. Click Close when you are finished adding objects and counters.

  8. Monitor the values for the selected counters as noted in the table above.