Review of Exchange 2000 Storage Architecture

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Chapter 2 described the storage architecture of Exchange 2000 Server. This section will refresh your memory by summarizing the main points of that architecture. Refer back to Chapter 2 if you need more details.

A storage group in an Exchange system consists of a set of up to six databases. All of the databases in a storage group use the same transaction log files. Each database in Exchange 2000 Server comprises two files: the rich text file (the .EDB file) and the native content file, or streaming file (the .STM file). Both of the these files are managed as one unit by the Store process (Store.exe). The native content file can hold any type of content in its original form. Information is read into and out of the native content file by Exchange Installable File System (ExIFS), a kernel mode component that provides very fast streaming.