Correct Archiving Strategy
We want to provide detailed information about selected product features to our customers and solution partners, and show how they can be used in MailStore Server. In addition to providing a short background information on the subject, there is also a video in each blog post of this series.
In this video, our Technical Support Engineer will show you what factors to consider when selecting the right archiving strategy for your company.
What Is The Most Suitable Archiving Strategy For My Company?
MailStore Server offers two different options for archiving e-mails. However, before starting to archive, a company should carefully evaluate which archiving type best meets its needs. The selection of an archiving strategy depends both on the e-mail infrastructure — for example, whether there is a local Exchange Server or if Microsoft Office 365 is used — and on individual goals.
The following question is the most important: Should e-mails be archived to comply with certain regulatory requirements, OR should the folder structure created by employees in their e-mail client be replicated in the archive to simultaneously reduce the load on the e-mail server? These two methods are known as daily archiving and mailbox archiving, respectively, and are explained below.
Journal Archiving: A Prerequisite For Legal Protection
This method involves archiving all e-mails before they are delivered to users. This is achieved by creating a journal rule in either a Microsoft Exchange Server or Office 365 environment; thereby, all incoming and outgoing e-mails can be automatically copied to a defined mailbox. In most cases, a similar rule can be used even if another server is used. A comprehensive list of product-specific instructions is available in the "Application Guides" section of our MailStore Help.
Once the appropriate archiving profile has been created, MailStore will archive all e-mails before users can delete or interact with them. This ensures the integrity of the archive from the perspective of the company or organization and helps comply with an increasing number of regulations related to e-mail compliance, e-discovery, and other legislation.
Mailbox Archiving: Replicating The Folder Structure In The Archive And Reducing The Load On The E-Mail Server
This method archives all e-mails in the relevant mailboxes of users. This can be achieved by directly accessing the e-mail server or, if that is not an option, by archiving e-mail clients. The advantage of this method is that it transfers the entire folder structure and the complete history of all e-mails in the user's mailbox to the archive. In addition, rules can be created to automatically delete e-mails older than two years from the mailbox after they have been successfully archived. This approach helps permanently reduce the load on the e-mail server. Users can then search for and access their e-mails through the archive using a familiar folder structure.
Our Recommendations For E-Mail Archiving
In conclusion, a company will choose the archiving approach that best meets its individual needs. As companies are increasingly required to comply with a growing number of regulations, MailStore advocates for journal archiving and also offers the following additional recommendations:
- Archiving profiles should be automated and, of course, automated. In the case of daily archiving (i.e., incoming and outgoing e-mails are directly archived), the default value of 300 seconds between archiving operations should be set.
- In the case of mailbox archiving, we recommend running the archiving process once a day during the evening or night when the load on the e-mail server is lowest.
- If you choose journal archiving, we recommend running mailbox archiving at least once beforehand to ensure that existing e-mails are archived and remain accessible. E-mails stored in a decentralized manner (e.g., in PST files) can also be archived at this stage.