The database engine stopped an instance

Details

Explanation

Event ID 103 frequently occurs with two other related events. The following describes these three events.

• ESE event 102: The database engine started a new instance (Instance #).

• ESE event 103: The database engine stopped the instance (Instance #).

• ESE event 104: The database engine stopped an instance (Instance #) with error (Error #).

There is only one ESE, Ese.dll, per server. However, there can be one instance of ESE running per storage group. Event 102 signifies and indicates which instance of ESE has started. Event 103 indicates which instance has stopped. However, an error is never mentioned in the description section of event 103. Event 104 indicates that there is a problem and that the named instance of ESE has stopped with a definite error associated with it. The error is named in the description section of event 104.

Event ID 103 has many potential causes. The following are known causes for the database instance stopping:

• The database instance failed to apply an Exchange Server service pack for a reinstall or an Exchange-aware restore.

• The database instance ran out of disk space.

• The database instance tried to restore multiple storage groups at the same time.

• The database instance applied an Exchange Server service pack. This caused the Exchange Server databases to be inconsistent.

Event ID 104 has many potential causes. Use the following explanations of common error codes to help you understand the root cause ESE event 104:

• Error -1090 = 0xfffffbbe = JET_errInstanceUnavailable = This instance cannot be used because it encountered a fatal error. If ESE encounters this error, ESE will not be able to roll back any transactions and will dismount the databases in the Storage Group for that instance of ESE.

• Error -1022 = 0xfffffc02 = 4294966274 = JET_errDiskIO = disk I/O error. The -1022 error is a generic error that appears whenever a disk I/O problem prevents Exchange from gaining access to a requested page in the database or to a transaction log. Access may have been prevented under the following conditions:

  • If the data on disk has been corrupted. This may be caused by a disk or controller failure has occurred.

  • If permissions were been removed from the folder where the file resides.

  • If the file has been marked read-only.

  • If the folder that contains the file has been renamed or deleted.

  • If software that is not compatible with Exchange is preventing the write operation.

• Error -510 = 0xfffffe02 = 4294966786 = JET_errLogWriteFail = Failure when writing to log file. This error has been seen in the description of event 104 and has been more typically associated with a different ESE event. Error -510 can be caused by permissions issues, space issues, and other issues affecting reads or writes to the disks.

For information about ESE error codes other than the ones explained in this topic, see the following Microsoft Knowledge Base articles:

• 266361, Extensible Storage Engine 98 Error Codes 0 to -1048

• 266367, Extensible Storage Engine 98 Error Codes -1051 to -999999

User Action

To resolve SE Event ID 103, examine related events in the Application log that occur before and after ESE event 103. These related events provide more information about the root cause of this error. The resolution of ESE event 103 depends on the error code in the description of the associated events. For example, if ESE event 104 is logged with this event, the error code in the description of that event provides more information about the cause of the event.

To resolve ESE Event ID 104, examine the System log for I/O or drive errors near the time of ESE Event ID 104. These events may indicate that a damaged hard disk or disk controller are causing the data to be corrupted. In addition, do the following:

1. Run chkdsk /f /r.

2. If Chkdsk does not resolve the issue, examine the permissions on the Program Files/Microsoft/ExchangeServer folder structure.

3. If you still cannot mount the databases, troubleshoot any Microsoft Windows NT® file-level antivirus software running on the Exchange server. Make sure that you have properly configured your antivirus software. For more information, see the Microsoft Knowledge Base article 328841, Exchange and Antivirus Software.

For more information about ESE event 104, search for information about that event in the Events and Events Message Center.

For More Information

To search the Microsoft Knowledge Base articles based on criteria that generated this alert, visit the Search the Support Knowledge Base (KB) Web site.

To review Exchange 2007 event message articles that may not be represented by Exchange 2007 MOM alerts, see the Events and Errors Message Center.

If you are not already doing so, consider running the tools that Microsoft Exchange offers to help administrators analyze and troubleshoot their Exchange environment. These tools can help you make sure that your configuration is in line with Microsoft best practices. They can also help you identify and resolve performance issues, improve mail flow, and better manage disaster recovery scenarios. Go to the Toolbox node of the Exchange Management Console to run these tools now. For more information about these tools, see Toolbox in the Exchange Server 2007 Help.