Best practices are for the Default Gathering to be run at the organization level, and only to have one Default Gathering task, why?
The Default Gathering task consists of Server level tasks, and Organization Level tasks. Organization level tasks run against the entire organization and only one per Organization is required.
Server level tasks run against each individual server in your organization. Organization level tasks should only be deployed on one task execution server, while Server level tasks can be deployed across multiple task execution servers.
The following are Organization level tasks that exist in the Default Gathering. (These tasks can only run at the Organization level)
• Exchange Mail-Enabled Objects
• Exchange Connectors
• Exchange Mail Contacts
• Exchange Internal Namespaces
• Distribution Groups
The following are Server level tasks (These tasks can run at the Organization or Server level)
• Exchange Tracking Log
• Exchange Information Stores/Databases
• Exchange Mailboxes
• Exchange Server Properties
• Exchange Virtual Servers
• Server Uptime Performance Counter
Note: Server level tasks should not contain the same sets of servers.
If you create a server level task to run against server A, B and C. And you create the same task to run against Server D, E and F. The first task should not include server D, E, or F as this is a duplication of efforts because they already belong to another task of the same template.
This can be the case with multiple Default Gatherings. Multiple Default gatherings should not be used as this can lead to the duplication of tasks and unneeded use of resources on your MessageStats server. This can also lead to tasks going into pending state resulting in additional technical issues.
If you happen to be using multiple Default Gatherings and are having problems with gathering completing please remove all but one Default Gathering and let it run to completion.
Note: The above article is intended for informational purposes only. It is not recommended to attempt to break out each server and organization level task from the Default Gathering on your own without previous knowledge of MessageStats. For product architectural design with deployment assistance, please contact the Professional Services team www.quest.com/professional-services.
In most environments, a single Default Gathering at the organization level is sufficient as long as it completes in under 24 hours. If you're still having issues with your gathering configuration and the Default Gathering is not completing in under 24 hours please contact Technical Support.
