Hello,
This has been a discussion going on for many years, with many different opinions. Have a look here:
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My personal opinion! Although Microsoft says 'storage is no issue', it actually is. Keeping everything in Exchange does mean you will have to provide storage for both mailboxes and archives. If you use DAG's, this multiplies by the number of DAG's. If you have 1 active mbx database, 1 archive mbx database, 2 copies and 1 lagged copy, you're looking at 4 times storage you need. If you don't do some sort of mailbox management, this grows indefinitely.
Using EV mailbox archiving moves the items from the mailbox into EV. (taking away the archive mailbox). If setup properly, using Single Instancing, you will need a lot less storage in Exchange. You will need storage for EV, but, as SIS is done, and compression etc, not nearly as much as you would in Exchange. It also means (I believe) you can do away with the need for the enterprise CAL for Outlook (to use archive mailbox). EV also is a LOT better in indexing items and fileformats. In the latest releases, the EV search and browse for the archive is a LOT better, and, without too much difficulty, can be provided to external access (ipad's, mobile phones etc.)
There is somewhere a so-called napkin presentation, which shows what you save. If you are in the process of deciding what to do, I would definitely ask a Veritas partner to give a demo. You'll be surprised :)
Regards, GJ
Regards. Gertjan
