Archiving Email

[michaelvp]

Just want to know what exactly is happening when archiving email on exchange.

To perform this,

Do I need to backup first? - Why?

As I understand, the selection are directly pointed to the exchange servers, so how would backup exec know that the file selection were backup yesterday for example.

Does it delete the files residing on exchange after a sucessful archiving job?

Thanks...

[pkh]

Perhaps this document will help

http://www.symantec.com/business/support/index?page=answerlink&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.symantec.com%2Fbusiness%2Fsupport%2Fresources%2Fsites%2FBUSINESS%2Fcontent%2Fstaging%2FTECHNICAL_SOLUTION%2F129000%2FTECH129691%2Fen_US%2F6.0%2F351979.pdf&answerid=16777216&searchid=1309142853425

[teiva-boy]

BE, archives from the FULL backup image ONLY.

It backs up, archives from the backup (based on your policies), and then deletes it from the Information Store of Exchange.  Only after a FULL backup

This is a different process than Enterprise Vault which actively removes emails from the information store via a MAPI connection or some other connection (Exch2010)

[Idimple]

You will find the complete information about BE 2010 Archive option in BE 2010 Admin guide

http://www.symantec.com/business/support/index?page=answerlink&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.symantec.com%2Fb...

How the Archiving Option works

To process an archive job, Backup Exec performs the following actions:

■Reads the latest backups of the file systems and Exchange servers from which

you make archive selections.

■Applies the archive rules that you specify to identify the files and mail messages

that are eligible for archiving.

■Checks if eligible files already exist in the archives.

If a file already exists in the archives, it is not archived again.

■Adds the data to the archives.

All of the archived data content is indexed to enable fast searching and retrieval

of archived items.

[pkh]

Isn't all these information present in the document that I have quoted earlier??  It even has a diagram of the archiving process.

[michaelvp]

conclusion then is just it just a like a full backup but with additional tasks after it.

- to archive, delete etc...

right?

[teiva-boy]

I wouldn't call it that at all.  It's Email and'or file archiving for storage management and optimization.  Not to mention, improving backups.

Why repeatedly backup items that are over 1yr old or even 6 months old, that users will rarely access?  What about data retention?  How do you ensure that legal retention levels are met?

This is where the Archiving option comes in.  Based on AD users/groups move items based on age or size, out of primary storage, and provide a web interface for users to access the files should they need it down the road.

Backup archiving is more limited, in that it removes items you designate based on a filer heirarchy, and it's not searchable by end-users, retention can't be maintained easily, and more.

Basically, true archiving is a whole new class of business operation outside of backup.  But it also complements and improves backup processes too.

[pkh]

Also, with archiving, the user can retrieve their archived items themselves. This is something that they cannot do if the items were just backed up.