PST files lock on a new SAN server.

[John H.]

We have a number of users with Outlook 2003 running off of Exchange
2003. They have PST files on the files server. We recently moved all
of the files to a new SAN server built fresh running Windows Server
2003, Datacenter edition R1. Volume Shadow copy is turned on and
running every two hours.

Ever since the move, periodically, on and off, throughout the day - the
users
mentioned above will suddenly lose access to their archives "Access
denied" If
they wait for a few hours, suddenly they have access again.


Logoff the network does not fix it.


A reboot of the user workstation WILL fix it, but this means several
reboots for these users every day. Not terribly productive.


A work around is to move the PST files off of the SAN, but this too is
less than optimal.


My Windows Network Admin (The guy who built the SAN server) doesn't
think it's Vol Shadow Copy, but doesn't have time to look into it
further. (Dept cutbacks, he's doing two jobs)


I do end user support Exchange ops and don't know much about the SAN
server setup, but I think the appearance of the problem with
installation of SAN, and the VSC update rate sound too close to be a
coincidence - but who listens to the Helpdesk guy :-O.


Does anyone have any suspicions about what could cause a user to be
locked out of a PST file for 2 hours only, randomly, or where we can
start looking?


John H.

 

[William Lefkovics [MVP]]

A work around is to move the PST files off of the SAN, but this too is
less than optimal.

1) If you are using Exchange 2003, why are we using .pst files at all.

2) Network storage of .pst files is not supported.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/297019/

I'm not sure if what you are experiencing is a reason for not being
supported. If you remove the coincidental shadow copy from the equation,
does that change the user experience?

 

[John H.]

William -

We're using PST's as archives, since the user mailboxes are limited in
size. Old emails get archived off to the PST. We put them on the
network so they can get backed up, and so that remote users have access
to the archives.

As for VSC. I can't get the Admin to shut it off, but I'm going to go
back to him with your suggestion.

Thanks, This helps us make some decisions about our Outlook layout

 

[John H.]

William -
Also, What then does Microsoft recommend for long term storage of
emails? PST's have been around in the enterprise environment as an
archiving solution since 1997. The Kbase doc is listed as 2004.
What's up with this? Do we just keep expanding the message store?

John H.