Evault and Discovery Accelerator (Dealing with OST files)

[Evault_Professi]

OST archiving in Enterprise Vault like a PST Migration...is it even possible?

 I know the PST tasks will only locate ".PST" files. Does Evault allow a way to archive OST files similar to PST files so the items within it can be searchable using Discovery Accelerator?

 I've archived the OST file using FSA, but finding the items within it in DA and trying to open it is not allowed. Any workaround when dealing with OST???

Thanks for the help!
Dennis

[GertjanA]

But if you (ie management) really have a need, you might want to look at Discovery Collector...

[Evault_Professi]

Thanks Gertjan!

 I've used "Collector" a bit for testing and noticed it is able to search for information within a PST file. Per your response and this test I'm assuming it can also search within an OST.

Question: "Collector" - Does it have the capabilities of maintaining a "Chain of Custody" workflow like Discovery Accelerator? (e.g. DA allows a user to run a search and accept items found, and then allowing someone else to review or mark items appropriately) It seems like both applications have certain key advantages over the other depending on the requirements on how it is used.

My understanding is that "Collector" can maintain a workflow if organized appropriately but my experience shows it is not as user friedly as DA. Is that correct? 

In regards to my original "POST"...I ran a test searching for items within a PST file using "Collector". It was able to find this data successfully. When I moved these items into an Enterprise Vault archive so that DA can search it. DA was still not able to search for the items within the PST file. Therefore, a PST file would need to be ingested using EV PST migration options in order for DA to find it. Same issue would apply with OST files, except if this would be a requirement by management we will not have any way to do this. Of course, "Mailbox Archiving" would be a solution for the future but not for OST files created prior to "Mailbox Archiving" being enabled.

Please advise on your comments,

Thanks and best regards,

Dennis

[TonySterling]

The workflow with DC is to discover the items and then move them to EV so DA is used for the review.  Not sure how what your policy was when you moved the items to EV but DC can move just the specific items discovered in an archive and not the entire PST/OST so DA should not have had any problems.

I have not personally tested it against an OST file but it should work. 

Feel free to ping me with any questions or to discuss your options with EVDC.  ( I used to do the Partner Training for EVDC so I should be able to help)

Regards,

Tony

[TonySterling]

oh, and another option, why not convert the OST to a PST?  There are some tools available to do that, peronsally I have not used them but that once you convert to PST you could just import them to an archive.

[Rob_Wilcox1]

One question, going back to the beginning, why have you archived the OST file using FSA?  It contains what is in a users mailbox, right?

[Evault_Professi]

 I did see some of those OST to PST conversion tools. I'll look into to it in case that would be the direction by managment. Just wanted to confirm if a quicker solution was available through EV. Management is always happy with quick solutions. :)

 About my workflow for Discovery Collector...I ran a full harvest on a volume, created a user TAG on each of the files and that was how it was moved over to EV. I no longer have the test environment available but basically the scenario is detailed below:

I had a txt file in volume with "Dog" within it. I also had  a PST file with an email that contained the word "Dog" in one of the items. I ran a search in DC to find anything that had "Dog". It returned 2 items (The TXT file and the PST file). I set the USER TAG and moved it into Evault.

If I ran a search in DA looking for content "Dog" it would only return the TXT file. PST needed to be ingested in order for the item to come up in a DA search. Was I doing something wrong?

Trying to avoid "Users" running searches in DC and also DA to find same items. Thanks for your help!

Best Regards,

Dennis

[Evault_Professi]

Rob,

 I forgot to clarify..."Mailbox Archiving" is not an option that will be available at our customer site. We have implemented FSA and DA for our customer. Original Data archived had already been collected by another service provider. This is why the OST file were archived using FSA.

Thanks,

Dennis

[TonySterling · Accepted solution]

It sounds like the move job failed to copy the item from the pst but without being able to look at the test environment it is hard to say for sure if it was a config issue or actual error occurred. 

I know for sure moving specific items from containers (ie zips, rars, psts, etc..) works.  :)

[Evault_Professi]

I will try to recreate it and keep you posted. Seems like the process I followed was not correct...I will keep you posted on further updates in the future.

Thanks again,

Dennis

[Evault_Professi]

Just wanted to give you a heads up that the EVDC process for moving items within a PST file under a share does move successfully into EV so items can be discovered in DA. I recreated my TEST scenario.

I believe to have followed a very similar process last time I tested it, but this time it worked. :)

The only detail to indicate...is that it was done via the "Copy" option only. The "move" option does not give an option to target the destination volume or destination archive in Evault.

 Thanks again for your help!

D