Mailsafe Solution to .PST file and Outlook data file storage problems

PST files are a problem

PST files are a problem because of some or all of the following reasons:-

 ·           They are stored on local work station’s hard drive

·           Data corruption possibilities when stored in network folders

·           A full backup of PSTs is initiated even when nothing has been updated

·           Difficult and time consuming to search and find emails in a PST file

·           They take up a lot of storage space and have a huge impact on backup

·           It’s difficult to comply with regulatory requirements when using PSTs

·           Simultaneous file sharing between multiple users is not possible

·           Remote access users with OWA cannot access PST files

·           Too much dependence on users knowledge or lack of it regarding PST’s.

Users who do struggle with keeping below their Exchange Mailbox quota limit do resort to using PST files to archive their emails, so there are some practical reasons for using PSTs.

However there is a better way and one that will give you a return on your investment.

What are .PST Files or Outlook Data Files used for?

PST files are primarily used for removing emails out of an Exchange Mailbox and storing them locally in a .PST file and in this process reducing the size of their Mailbox. They are a local archive. Personal Folders in Outlook are PSTs.

Risks associated with .PST files

PST files stored on local hard drives

This makes it almost impossible for corporate IT personnel manage the business information contained in them. If the local computer crashes then the data could be lost for ever because local storage is not backed up regularly, if at all. Configuring backups on each machine individually and ensuring that the backup takes place when Outlook is not running is moving away from a central administration and will quickly grow beyond control.

Neither Exchange Server nor Outlook has built-in tools to centrally manage or monitor how .PST files are being used. A disgruntled employee could easily delete all .PST files on their local drive or copy them to a removable device.

PST files provide the perfect mechanism for users to transfer sensitive information out of an organisation.

PST files are prone to corruption.

A PST file is essentially a binary database format, rather than a simple text file, and it is prone to corruption damage that can render the file unreadable. When corruption damage occurs, you will either see error messages and/or Outlook will no longer be able to open the Outlook.pst file.

Whilst it is possible to configure Outlook to store a .PST file on a network drive, accessing them over a network is not supported by Microsoft. Instabilities in the network, loss of network connectivity, speed issues in reading and writing from the file server can all cause issues, particularly for sensitive PST files, which are so easily corrupted.

PST files can have a huge impact on storage and backup.

Many users have multiple copies of documents within their PST files it is definitely not single instance archiving. Multiply one user’s use of PSTs by perhaps thousands of other users and the impact on enterprise storage is clear.

Any opened .PST file requires a full backup even if the file has not been viewed. This has an impact on the time that it takes to complete the backup and the amount of backup storage required. Due to issues with corruption going undetected this presents problems regarding the confidence in being able to even read a backed up PST file successfully.

PST files affect the capacity requirements and performance of enterprise backup servers. Is there enough time in the Backup Window to complete a lengthy backup of PST files and what level of priority is given to this .PST backup process?

Searching, finding and viewing emails in a PST file is very slow.

.PST files tend to be quite large, there used to be a 2GB limit in the ANSI format .PST and .OST files in pre Exchange 2003 versions, but the UNICODE format provides a 20GB limit in Exchange 2003 and 2007, whereas Exchange 2010 offers a 50GB default maximum limit.

Some users may have multiple .PST files, so they need to select the correct one, initiate a search using Outlook and wait for the result, always assuming that the file is not corrupted in any way. The searching, finding and viewing process can be very slow and time consuming especially if it’s the Systems Administrators who are doing the searching and they have to locate the .PST files first.

If a person leaves the organisation and an investigation is required needing access to old PST files, how does the systems administrator know which .PST file contains the email(s) that are under investigation?

File Sharing and Remote Access

PST files do not support simultaneous file sharing between multiple users i.e. two users cannot access the same .PST file at the same time.

Storing data in .PST files has no benefits for remote access either. Exchange’s OWA users allows users access to their Mailbox, however as data in the .PST has usually been removed from the Mailbox it is therefore inaccessible to the remote user.

Similarly if the user moves to another machine then they cannot access the .PST files on their original computer.

A solution to .PST file issues

Mailsafe is an on site enterprise email archiving solution that provides a solution to all of the above issues. PSTs and their email contents are automatically imported into the central archive which is a combination of SQL server and a separate Mailstore on your network. Access to search find and view emails is from an Outlook Add in.

Existing .PST files can be imported into Mailsafe’s central single instance archive where they are compressed and encrypted together with any attachments into a Mailsafe Mailstore. In this process data is extracted into a SQL server database for fast searching, finding and applying privacy rules and ensuring that no duplication of emails is taking place. Pointers in the SQL server database link to the Mailsafe Mailstore so that they are logically connected.

Users can search, find and view archived emails from within Outlook using Mailsafe’s Toolbar with comprehensive search tools and fast response times. They can even re-import and email from the archive back into their Exchange Mailbox. Mailsafe looks and feels as though it’s part of Outlook and most users are familiar with this view.

How do .PST files get imported into Mailsafe’s central archive?

Mailsafe has a separate software service and application that continually monitors a network folder (definable by the Systems Administrator) for the occurrence of .PST files. When a .PST file appears in the network folder its email contents are immediately imported into Mailsafe’s central archive. Emails that were in the .PST file are then immediately accessible by the user from the central archive via Outlook.

On completing the process of importing .PST files into the archive, the .PST files are moved to a ‘Completed Folder’ on the network for the Systems Administrator to take action i.e. they are not automatically deleted.

As an alternative to processing .PST from a network folder, users are able to target and select .PSTs from Mailsafe’s Outlook toolbar and import them into the central archive.

What are the benefits in using Mailsafe’s central archive?

·           Emails that were in .PST files are now in a central email archive providing a secure environment that is regularly backed up.

 ·           You will save money because the storage costs are considerably less. Once emails in .PST files are archived they can be deleted, thus freeing up space. The email archive is stored centrally in one place and not spread all over the network or on local drives.

 ·           Considerable savings in storage space. There is on average a 50% saving just in message compression and this ignores the savings to be made in single instance archiving. An overall saving nearer to 70% can be expected.

 ·           For e-discovery requests and investigations systems administrators can have access to all emails.

 ·           Users only have access to their own archived emails i.e. sent, received or copied to them. If two or more people want to view an email from the archive they can do so if they have ‘ownership’ to the email i.e. sent, received or copied to them.

 ·           With considerable space savings backups are quicker and will take up considerably less space. You only need to backup current data from the Mailsafe Mailstore and not the whole store every time.

 ·           Once all the emails in the current .PST files have been imported into the central archive you have the option of either remaining with your current .PST procedures and using Mailsafe to automatically import .PST’s into the central archive from a network folder or to progress to Mailsafe’s full email archiving system.