Windows Server SBS: Exchange RAM Optimization
Step-by-step guide to reducing store.exe, SharePoint and WSUS memory usage on SBS servers to optimise Exchange performance.
In this article
How to reduce memory usage on SBS servers?
Some SBS servers have recently shown unusually slow and inconsistent performance, which is why TN Solutions decided to adjust a number of configurations to improve server performance.
Specifically, we recommend the following:
Limiting store.exe memory usage (Exchange Information Store)
Limiting SharePoint database memory usage
Limiting WSUS database memory usage
Enabling the "Connect to Computer" remote web workspace only when 0 memory is available
Follow the guidance below to optimise memory usage and stay alert to mistakes that can cause a drop in server performance.
Why does store.exe consume all the available memory in Exchange?
Many of you sysadmins will probably have noticed that store.exe tends to consume all the memory available on the system. To reduce this consumption, you need to use ADSIedit.msc to update msExchESEParamCacheSizeMin and msExchESEParamCacheSizeMax with the correct page sizes.
Launch adsiedit.msc
Connect to: select a well-known naming context: [Configuration]
Expand the following:
- Configuration/Services/Microsoft Exchange/(First Organization)/Administrative Groups/(Exchange Administrative Group)/Servers/(Server Name)
- Right-click on CN = Information Store and click Properties
- Update the msExchESEParamCacheSizeMin and msExchESEParamCacheSizeMax values using the table below:
| Target Cache Size in GB | msExchESEParamCacheSize for 2010+ (32KB pages) | msExchESEParamCacheSize for 2010+ (32KB pages) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 32768 | 131072 |
| 2 | 65536 | 262144 |
| 3 | 98304 | 393216 |
| 4 | 131072 | 524288 |
| 6 | 196608 | 786432 |
| 8 | 262144 | 1048576 |
| 10 | 327680 | 1310720 |
| 12 | 393216 | 1572864 |
| 14 | 458752 | 1835008 |
| 16 | 524288 | 2097152 |
| 18 | 589824 | 2359296 |
| 20 | 655360 | 2621440 |
- Restart the Microsoft Exchange Information Store service for the changes to take effect (Microsoft Exchange Information Store service)
Before Touching ADSIedit: Confirm store.exe Is Actually the Cause
Editing Active Directory attributes with ADSIedit is not risk-free — it's a low-level tool with no undo button for a botched change, so it's worth confirming the diagnosis before opening it. Open Task Manager (or, better, Performance Monitor with the Process > Working Set counter) and check how much memory store.exe is actually consuming relative to total installed RAM. On an SBS server that's also running SharePoint and WSUS on the same box — a common setup on these older deployments — it's easy to misattribute a general memory shortage to Exchange alone. If store.exe is sitting well above the cache size you're about to configure, and total available memory is regularly near zero in Task Manager, the diagnosis is confirmed and the fix below is the right one.
Limiting the SharePoint and WSUS Databases Too
Capping store.exe alone often isn't enough, because SharePoint's SQL instance (usually WSS_SQL or a similarly named named instance) and the WSUS database can each claim several gigabytes of RAM that they never release back to the OS. Both are SQL Server-based, so the fix is the same mechanism in both cases: open SQL Server Management Studio, connect to the relevant instance, right-click the server in Object Explorer, go to Properties → Memory, and set a Maximum server memory value that leaves enough headroom for the OS and for Exchange's own cache. As a starting point on a server with 16 GB of total RAM, capping each SQL instance to 1–2 GB and leaving the rest for the OS, Exchange, and other services is a reasonable baseline to tune from — it isn't a fixed number, and it's worth revisiting after a week of monitoring actual usage.
A Word of Caution
Any change made through ADSIedit is a direct write to the Active Directory schema, not a friendly configuration dialog with validation — a typo in the attribute name or a value in the wrong units can leave the Information Store service unable to start. Always export or note the current values before changing them, make the change on a maintenance window, and be ready to reverse it if the Exchange Information Store service doesn't restart cleanly.
Conclusion: Exchange
TN Solutions has specialised in Server and Virtualisation Support for years, and thanks to the know-how we've built up over time, we're able to help companies that are struggling with their IT systems. If you need more information or would like a free initial consultation, fill in our contact form.
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Frequently asked questions
Why can SBS servers experience slow performance?
Slow performance on SBS servers is often related to excessive memory use by components such as store.exe (Exchange Information Store), the SharePoint database and the WSUS database, which — without configured limits — can consume all available resources.
How do you limit store.exe's memory consumption in Exchange?
Using ADSIedit.msc, you update the msExchESEParamCacheSizeMin and msExchESEParamCacheSizeMax parameters with the correct page sizes for the target cache size, then restart the Microsoft Exchange Information Store service.
What other components should be limited to optimise RAM on an SBS server?
Besides store.exe, it's worth limiting memory usage for the SharePoint database and the WSUS database, and configuring the "Connect to Computer" remote web workspace to activate only when available memory is at zero.
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