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MessageStats 7.8.1 - Reports User Guide

Upgrading MessageStats Overview Typical MessageStats Upgrade Scenarios Moving the MessageStats Database Moving and Upgrading MessageStats Moving Custom Reports and Report Subscriptions Viewing, Creating, and Editing MessageStats Reports My Reports and Corporate Reports Exchange Executive Summaries Reports Exchange Organizations Reports Exchange Server Reports Exchange Content Analysis Reports Exchange Mailboxes Reports Exchange Mail Contacts Reports Exchange Distribution Groups Reports Exchange Public Folders Reports Exchange Storage Reports Exchange Internet Reports Exchange Inventory Reports Migration Reports MessageStats Gathering Reports Appendix A: How to Read the Reports Report Filter Definitions

Other Factors to be Considered

Other factors to be considered are as follows:

•
All messages sent to a distribution group are considered internal, regardless of the distribution group membership. MessageStats counts the message as a single message. Since there is significant overhead in distribution group expansion, it is not done a part of the MessageStats tracking log gatherings.
•
When a message is sent to a mail contact, MessageStats checks the SMTP address for the mail contact and uses that address when determining whether the message is internal or external.
If an SMTP message is submitted from an external IP address but has a “From Address” that matches an internal Exchange mailbox, is it counted against the sender in reports?

No. Even though the “From address” matches an Exchange mailbox, since the message was submitted through SMTP from an external IP address, it is assumed that the message is SPAM and it is not counted against the sender’s mailbox.

The message is counted against the recipient mailboxes and recipient distribution groups.

Internal and External Messages - Frequently Asked Questions

The following are frequently asked questions about internal and external messages in MessageStats reports.

What information is provided by the Server Internal vs. External report?

This report shows the number of times that messages that are routed (sent and received) through an Exchange server. By totaling the values at the organization level, MessageStats provides a value that is the sum of the volume of messages that have passed through the Exchange organization.

This report does not take unique messages into consideration. The same message can pass through many Exchange servers in the organization and this routing of the message copies is included in the totals on this report.

What are the definitions of Internal and External in the Server | Server Activity | Internal vs. External report?

The report shows the mailbox activity on a server and the number of messages that are sent to and received by the mailboxes:

•
Internal is defined as any messages that are sent within the Exchange organization.
•
External is defined as any messages that are sent outside the Exchange organization to the Internet.
How can I see all the external messages sent by an organization?

Using the Server Internal vs. External report, you can view the total of all the physical external sent messages.

Regardless of whether all external mail is going through one Exchange server or several Exchange servers, this total shows all external messages sent by the organization.

How do I create a custom report for All External Messages Sent and Received?

The following steps show you how to create a report for all external messages sent and received. System Messages are not counted in the report, but you can add a field for system messages to the Server Report.

1
On the main page of MessageStats Reports, select File | New | Custom Report and click Next.
2
Select Datasource = Servers - Server Activity Details.
3
Select Fields = Date | External User Messages Received | External User Messages Sent.
If you also want to report on System Attendant Messages & System Messages, add the fields.
4
Select Filter = Date and provide the date or date range you want.
5
Select Group = Date.
6
You can configure Sorting, if you want, but it is not required.
7
Under the Format page, select Advanced Summary Calculations.
8
Clear Show Detail Records.
9
Under the Count Column select External User Messages Received and External User Messages Sent and click OK.
10
Click Finish.
11
Save the report by selecting the File | Save As.

Differences Between Messages Submitted, Delivered, and Transferred In and Out

Why are message counts different for messages delivered and submitted, and for messages transferred-in and transferred-out?

The following definitions explain what the different terms mean:

•
Message Submission is an operation in which a mail client (such as Outlook) creates new messages and sends them to Exchange to be routed and delivered. In MessageStats, the count is equal to one message each time a user clicks Send on the message.
•
Message Delivery is an operation in which a routed message is put into the mailbox of a specific recipient. In MessageStats, the count is equal to one message for each recipient of a message.
•
Message Transfer-In is a routing operation in which a message is received by an Exchange server. The message can come from other Exchange servers or from the Internet. In MessageStats, the count is equal to one message per message received, regardless of the number of recipients.
•
Message Transfer-Out is a routing operation in which a message is sent out by an Exchange server. The message can be sent to other Exchange servers or to the Internet. In MessageStats, the count is equal to one message per message sent, regardless of the number of recipients.

Exchange minimizes the number of messages that are routed through an Exchange organization by creating a copy of a message only when necessary. This process is called bifurcation.

Sample Scenario: MessageStats Counts

The following scenario describes what happens in Exchange and how MessageStats reports it. A user, using Outlook, sends a message that has three recipients: One recipient is in the same database as the originator (Server 1), while the two recipients are in the same database on a different server (Server 2).

The message is submitted to the Exchange server (Server 1). Exchange determines that one recipient is on the same server and two recipients are on a different server. Exchange delivers the message to the local recipient, and creates a copy of the message and routes it to Server 2, where the message is delivered to the two recipients.

 
Table 3:  

Server 1

Message Submitted: 1

Message Delivered: 1

Message Transfer In: 0

Message Transfer Out: 1

 
Table 4:  

Server 2

Message Submitted: 0

Message Delivered: 2

Message Transfer In: 1

Message Transfer Out: 0

There is no correlation between database events (Submission and Delivery) and routing events (Transfer In and Transfer Out).

Routing events depend on the number of recipients and on the location of the recipients relative to each other and relative to the originator. Delivery events are tied to the number of recipients that are in the same organization. Submission events reflect the number of times that a user clicks Send in Outlook (this is a simplification that describes what is counted).

As of Exchange 2010, all messages are forced through the Hub Transport role, which might not reside on the same server as the mailbox database.

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