EMAIL ARCHIVING
The Challenge
- Increasing usage = bigger mail boxes = bigger mail stores
- bigger mail stores impact on performance
- bigger mail stores take longer to backup and restore
- PST files are often used to address mail box sizes - but these are difficult to manage, prone to corruption and therefore represent a risk with data leakage / loss
- inappropriate, non-business usage
- "requests for information" - from outside sources, tenants, ex-employees, employees etc
- current and future legislation re: email retention and management
The Solution
EACS has deployed Archive One from C2C into a number of businesses in the housing sector, fixing a number of issues as follows:
- A housing association in Cambridgeshire were hitting limits on the Exchange 2003 server mail stores, meaning end users were expected to make decisions on which email to keep or delete. PST files were being used to remove files but the inherent issues of finding and retrieving mail within these containers meant this was an unsatisfactory fix. Archive One Policy Manager began archiving email out of the Exchange database the day it was installed resulting in a 50% 50% what?? within one month. PST files are currently being addressed with the long term goal of removing them completely from the business soon to be realised.
- A Housing Association with approximately 4000 stock were using Exchange 2003 with 160 mailboxes. Capacity issues were being experienced; therefore Archive One was suggested by EACS so that database sizes could be reduced to address this but also to promote a successful planned upgrade to Exchange 2007. Once installed, Policy Manager reduced the database size by archiving email out by year to the C2C non-SQL reliant repositories but using the solution to cleanse the database meant significant savings were made by deleting content that whilst important at the time, were deemed inappropriate for long term archiving : we are removing up to 420 mails a week containing the words "sandwich man". With some of this mail having 6mb signatures attached, the ability to remove them from the database prior to archiving represents a significant step forward in our strategy to manage mail better within the business" . The success of the email archiving solution has led this HA to BETA test the File Archiving solution from C2C dues for release early Q209.