Article ID: 152941
Article Last Modified on 10/28/2006
APPLIES TO
- Microsoft Exchange Server 4.0 Standard Edition
This article was previously published under Q152941
SYMPTOMS
When you run Microsoft Exchange Server over a network that is either slow or bursty, the Microsoft Exchange Message Transfer Agent (MTA) might crash with the following error message in the Windows NT Application Event Log.:
CAUSE
These problems are due to heap corruption when two or more threads in the MTA try to access the same data structures without proper synchronization. This problem has been particularly noted in networks in which there are a large number of associations being opened and closed between MTA's. Frequently, these MTA failures are associated with slow and unreliable links. For example, an ICMP Ping might return only one out of eight ping attempts.
STATUS
Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Microsoft Exchange Server version 4.0. A supported fix is now available, but has not been fully regression-tested and should be applied only to systems experiencing this specific problem. Unless you are severely impacted by this specific problem, Microsoft recommends that you wait for the next Service Pack that contains this fix. Contact Microsoft Product Support Services for more information.
These issues have been fixed in a post SP2 build of the MTA, 994.2. Customers with either 4.0 or SP1 servers will first need to update these to SP2 before applying the patch.
MORE INFORMATION
Before the crash occurs, you might see the following events in the Windows NT Application log:
Keywords: kbnetwork KB152941
