Take the 2-minute tour ×

If I use the GUI to move the mailbox database from a locally attached drive to another locally attached drive, will it basically take as long as a file copy would?

I tested a file copy of a similar size file and it appears to take around 1 hour. Can I expect the same for the Move Mailbox Database command or am I looking at hours upon hours to make this happen?

The server is an IBM x3650 dual quad core with 12GB of RAM, RAID 10 array with 6 15k SAS drives. Average copy speeds of large files is anywhere from 65 to 80MB/sec.

A 200GB file takes roughly 1 hour to copy from partition to partition. I'm looking to copy an .EDB file of around 260GB using the Move Database command.

share|improve this question
How long is a piece of string? In my experience it takes longer, but how much longer is really variable - hardware specs, database fragmentation, available resources, etc. Maybe someone else has a better answer, but I always say "it'll take as long as it takes," and budget the largest possible window I can get away with. –  HopelessN00b Aug 20 '12 at 20:10
I would say it typically takes about the same to double the amount of time to copy a test file. But, without knowing anything about the system there's really no good answer. –  Chris S Aug 20 '12 at 20:46
added edits to help assist with answers –  TheCleaner Aug 20 '12 at 20:53

1 Answer 1

up vote 0 down vote accepted

It will take longer then a file copy. How much longer depends on 100 factors none of us can predict. If you need to predict down-time then I would double your file-copy est. based on 260GB and then add 30-min as a safe real-world bet. If you needed to be conservative, triple or quadruple the est.

share|improve this answer
Thanks. The basic answer is "who knows, it's unique each time and for each environment" I guess. –  TheCleaner Aug 21 '12 at 13:42

Your Answer


