Configure Public Folder Database Properties

Today’s video walks you through configuration of public folder database in Exchange 2007 including public folder replication, public folder referral and storage limits.

Managing public folders in Exchange 2007 can be somewhat complicated due to the public folder structure to consider, as well as the presence of public folders replication in larger environments. For the latter, it is necessary to consider the public folders to be replicate, the replication schedule, and managing the database itself.

Similar to managing a mailbox database, the properties panel for a public folder can be initiated by a right-clicking on the public folder database and selecting “Properties” at the Exchange Management Console. There are four tabs within the public folder database properties: General, Replication, Limits and Public Folder Referral. This is different from going to the Public Folder Management Console and looking at the properties of individual folders, which allows configuration to be individually configured – or set to inherit the configuration of the underlying public folder database.

Going back to the database properties in Exchange Server 2007 at the Exchange Management Console, the Replication tab is what allows public folder databases to be replicated to create redundancy and also for increased performance for users who need to access the information. The replication interval can be set to always run, disabled, or even to create a custom schedule. There is also the replication message size limit here, which defaults to 15 minutes and 300kB respectively.

The Limits tab is similar to that of a mailbox database, and will issue a warning when the first storage limit is exceeded, prohibit new posts at the second limit, and also allows for the maximum item size to be defined. Moreover, deleted items is kept for a default of 14 days, while an age limit of up to 24,855 days can be applied to force Exchange to delete old items to free up space automatically.

The final tab of public folder datase in Exchange 2007 would be the Public Folder Referral tab, which lets you select Active Directory site costs or a custom list for tweaking the decision process when directing a client towards the most optimal public folder. If unsure of how to configure this, it’s best to just use active directory site costs for your public folder referral.