WSRM database size causing severe server slow-downs

Question

After my local WSRM JET accounting database grew past 50GB, I now have severe slow-downs on my enterprise terminal servers. How do I disable WSRM resource accounting and truncate historical tracking logs?

Answer 1

Hello,

WSRM (Windows System Resource Manager) accounting relies on a JET database to track historical usage, and once that database grows excessively large—like the 50GB you mentioned—it will cause severe slowdowns because every query and update against the accounting tables becomes expensive. The slowdown you’re seeing on your terminal servers is a direct result of that oversized accounting store.

To disable resource accounting, open the WSRM console, go to Resource Accounting, and in the Properties of the accounting configuration uncheck “Enable resource accounting.” Alternatively, you can stop the WSRM service (net stop wsrm) and set the service startup type to Disabled if you no longer need accounting at all. This halts further logging and prevents the database from growing.

To truncate or reset the historical tracking logs, you need to clear the JET database used by WSRM. The database is located under %SystemDrive%\WSRM\Accounting. Stopping the WSRM service and then deleting or archiving the .mdb file will reset accounting. When you restart WSRM, it will recreate a fresh database. If you want to preserve some history, you can use the WSRM console to export reports before clearing the database. There is no supported way to shrink the JET database in place; the only reliable method is to stop accounting and rebuild it.

In practice, most enterprise environments disable WSRM accounting entirely once performance issues appear, because the accounting data is rarely critical compared to the stability of the terminal servers. If you still need usage tracking, consider exporting reports periodically and resetting the database on a schedule to prevent it from growing uncontrollably.

I hope you've found something useful here. If it helps you get more insight into the issue, it's appreciated to accept the answer. Should you have more questions, feel free to leave a message. Have a nice day!

Domic Vo.