Question

alternative to pst files that we can backup...

Asked by: cymrich

I'm becoming quite unpopular with some people around where I work because I keep insisting that PST files on network shares is a bad idea and that they need to go through their e-mail and delete stuff.  I've read all about the issues with pst files on network shares and I know they are contributing to many issues on the network.  I also know that if people use PST files locally their old e-mails will never get backed up.  

I read something that mentioned OST files somewhere and made it sound like an alternative... but when I actually tried making an OST and found I couldnt even change the default location off my local drive then it didn't seem so great an idea suddenly.

so... is there any solution I can use that will allow the unwashed masses to keep every email that was ever sent to them throughout all eternity, allow for them to be backed up (cause we all know backup capacity is infinite too), and all on a budget that would make uncle scrooge seem generous (i.e. free... or maybe they would pay us)?  

all jokes aside I need alternatives to PST files... one person's plan, which I debunked via e-mail but I suspect she will still try, is to put their PST files on USB drives... I keep trying to stress corruption issues and file size limitations, but the responses I get seem to indicate my pleas for sanity fall on deaf ears.

This Question has been solved and asker verified All Experts Exchange premium technology solutions are available to subscription members.

Subscribe now for full access to Experts Exchange and get

Instant Access to this Solution

  • Plus...
  • 30 Day FREE access, no risk, no obligation
  • Collaborate with the world's top tech experts
  • Unlimited access to our exclusive solution database
  • Never be left without tech help again

Subscribe Now

Asked On
2008-12-09 at 16:34:31ID23971236
Topics

Exchange Email Server

,

Outlook Groupware Software

Participating Experts
5
Points
500
Comments
11

Trusted by hundreds of thousands everyday for fast, accurate and reliable tech support.

  • "The time we save is the biggest benefit of Experts Exchange to Warner Bros. What could take multiple guys 2 hours or more each to find is accessed in around 15 minutes on Experts Exchange." Mike Kapnisakis, Warner Bros.
  • "Our team likes having a resource that is more secure than just using Google and most experts using this service really know their stuff. It's nice to look here first versus using Google." Dayna Sellner, Lockheed Martin
  • "Anytime that I've been stumped with a problem, 9 out of 10 times Experts Exchange has either the accepted solution or an open discussion of the potential solution to the problem." Kenny Red, eBay Inc.

See what Experts Exchange can do for you.

Got a question?

We've got the answer.

Experts Exchange has been collecting answers to technology questions since 1996…3 million and counting! If you have a question, chances are we already have your answer.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Need individual assistance?

Our experts are ready to help.

If you can't find the exact answer you're looking for, ask our exclusive community of 50,000 experts. You’ll get a personalized answer from a trusted professional.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Want to learn from the best?

Read articles from industry experts.

Thousands of free tech tips, tricks, how-to’s and tutorials are available in our peer reviewed articles section. See for yourself how smart our experts are, no login required.

Screenshot of an Article

Working on a long term project?

Store your work and research.

Save solutions to your questions, answers you’ve discovered through searching plus helpful articles in your personal knowledgebase for easy future access.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Access the answers to your technology questions today.

Subscribe Now

30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.

What Makes Experts Exchange Unique?

Members of the expert community talk about why the experience at Experts Exchange is different than what you will find anywhere else.

Trusted by the world's most respected brands.

image of each brand's logo

Faithfully serving IT professionals since 1996.

Experts Exchange Logo

Try it out and discover for yourself.

Subscribe Now

30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.

Related Solutions

  1. Automatically backup a PST file without closing it.
    At my workplace we run Outlook 2003 on our workstations for our e-mail client. All of our desktops have their pst files stored on a fileserver, but the laptops have them stored locally so that they can check their e-mails while at home. I have been given the task to get these...
  2. how do I backup open pst files
    Hi, I have a number of workstations that use outlook to collect their pop3 mail, and I need to back up the pst files from the workstations to the server. If I use xcopy or the like and the .pst file is open, then it fails. Does anybody know of a script, or program , that ca...
  3. Storing psts on a shared drive
    I have a user on the network that insists on keeping pst files and keeping them on the branch server so they are backed up. She has occasional issues with accessing these which is a known issue for this configuration. We are using an exchange server but she keeps mail longer ...
  4. Is there an inherent danger by not backing up user PST files…
    Recently I was made aware of change in Corporate IT policy to implement a plan that would exclude backing up user PST files on Backup Exec. Full resposiblity would fall on the end-user in terms of archiving emails to keep their mailbox under storage limit and backing up thei...

Free Tech Articles

  1. WARNING: 5 Reasons why you should NEVER fix a computer for free.
    It is in our nature to love the puzzle. We are obsessed. The lot of us. We love puzzles. We love the challenge. We thrive on finding the answer. We hate disarray. It bothers us deep in our soul. W...
  2. SCCM OSD Basic troubleshooting
    SCCM 2007 OSD is a fantastic way to deploy operating systems, however, like most things SCCM issues can sometimes be difficult to resolve due to the sheer volume of logs to sift through and the dispe...
  3. Migrate Small Business Server 2003 to Exchange 2010 and Windows 2008 R2
    This guide is intended to provide step by step instructions on how to migrate from Small Business Server 2003 to Windows 2008 R2 with Exchange 2010. For this migration to work you will need the fo...
  4. Create a Win7 Gadget
    This article shows you how to create a simple "Gadget" -- a sort of mini-application supported by Windows 7 and Vista. Gadgets can be dropped anywhere on the desktop to provide instant information, ...
  5. Outlook continually prompting for username and password
    There have been a lot of questions recently regarding Outlook prompting for a username and password whilst using Exchange 2007. There are a few reasons why this would happen and I will try to cover t...
  6. Backup Exchange 2010 Information Store using Windows Backup
    There seems to be quite a lot of confusion around the ability to backup Exchange 2010 using the built in Windows Backup feature. This stems from the omission of this feature prior to Exchange 2007 s...

Cloud Class Webinars

  1. Avoiding Bugs in Microsoft Access
    Alison Balter takes and in-depth look at avoiding bugs in Access. In this webinar you will learn about using the immediate window to debug your applications, invoking the debugger, using breakpoints to troubleshoot, stepping through code, setting the next statement to execute, ...
  2. Top 10 Best New Features in Visio 2010
    Scott Helmers gives live demonstrations of the top 10 new features in Visio 2010. This webinar will teach you how to create compelling diagrams by adding shapes to the page with a single click, linking the shapes in a diagram to data in Excel (or SQL Server, or SharePoint), ...
  3. IT Consultant Business Secrets Revealed
    Michael Munger, Experts Exchange tech pro and IT consultant, pulls back the curtain on his very successful businesses and answers question on every IT consultant and business owner should know about. He shares secrets on what he did to solve the 5 most common problems in IT, ...
  4. Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity
    Quest CTO, Mike Billon, gives an overview of the steps involved in building a dunamic disaster recovery plan. Through case studies and an examination of software/hardware tooles for monitoring and testing, you'll gain a better understandin of where you are, where you want ...
  5. Organize Your Visio Diagrams with Containers and Lists
    Scott Helmers uses cross functional flowcharts, wireframe diagrams, data graphic legends and seating charts to teach you: how to ustilize all three new structured diagram components in Visio 2010, the best practices for organizeing shapes in previous version of Visio, how to organize ...
  6. How to Us Objects, Properties, Events and Methods in Microsoft Access
    Alison Dalter gives an in-depbth look at objects, properties, events and methods in Microsoft Access. In this webinar you will learn about using the object browser, referring to objects, working with properties and methods, working with object variables, understanding the ...

Join the Community

Give a Little. Get a Lot.

Join the community of experts here and help other tech pros by answering question in your area of expertise. You can earn FREE access to all Experts Exchange's premium features and resources.

Join the Community

Answers

 

by: b_haynesPosted on 2008-12-09 at 16:42:16ID: 23135362

Run a scheduled Archive with a mapped drive and scheduled a job (Cron) on the server to back it up.

 

by: thinkpads_userPosted on 2008-12-09 at 16:42:21ID: 23135363

This is one of these No One Soution Fits All situations.

With respect first to keeping mail from here to eternity, I would set up Automatic Archiving. I have mail going back to 1995 in my Outlook files, but my main PST file is only 250Mb. That is because the old mail is in archives. This part is really important for most users (not on the very latest gear) because a PST of 2Gb can break Outlook 2003 and earlier and cause users great grief. Do practice good email hygiene.

Where to keep a PST Archive? You could keep it on a server, and the only downside I could see is that keeping an Archive on a server may slow down searching.

Keeping the main PST on a server? I have read that this is not recommended (speed, network outages, and thence possible PST corruption). Others may have a different view and should chime in.

So keep an Archive on the server, keep the main PST small, and copy it to a server weekly, but operate it on the local PC. ... T

 

by: KutyiPosted on 2008-12-09 at 16:50:22ID: 23135407

The best solution is to implement Exhange Server and totally get rid of PSTs

 

by: thinkpads_userPosted on 2008-12-09 at 16:53:55ID: 23135429

You didn't seem willing to an Exchange Server in your first post, but I agree with Kutyi. However, even with an Exchange server, you still need to implement Archiving, so should get on with that. ... T

 

by: cymrichPosted on 2008-12-09 at 17:10:39ID: 23135506

hmmm... maybe my ideas on using exchange for that are from my days of dealing with limited space and older versions, but isnt keeping all the e-mail on exchange going to cause a whole new group of problems?  We do have exchange already... and the databases are already at 50GB.  Since it's the standard version of exchange I believe the cap is at 75GB?  if I were to move the email from PST files back onto the server we would hit that in no time.  

How would archiving to a pst file on a file server be better than just using a pst file on a file server?  from what I have read any pst on a network share is bad... and the symptons they list as attributed to this are symptoms we see frequently.  

I've mentioned the need for good email practices quite frequently but they are simply not interested since it would take effort on their part.  

 

by: kieran_bPosted on 2008-12-09 at 17:14:21ID: 23135526

Having email stored on exchange and archived to GFI MailArchiver would be (IMHO) the cheapest, "best" solution.

 

by: limjiananPosted on 2008-12-09 at 17:37:47ID: 23135609

you can use exmerge the exchange and delete the files let's say that is 2 years old..

http://www.msexchange.org/tutorials/MF013.html

then you can backup your pst file in your file servers...

well, i haven't test this method, just being throw up by my thoughts

 

by: thinkpads_userPosted on 2008-12-09 at 17:38:07ID: 23135612

cymrich - Archives live outside of Exchange. True they will use server storage, but they will take the pressure off Exchange. Properly set up, archiving is automatic. Mine runs every 60 days, archives everything more than six months old, and the only interaction is that it prompts me to go ahead.

Truly, if your users are not interested and won't help, some one senior needs to talk to them. Broken email, and wasted storage costs money the last time I looked. Ask senior managment about this.
... T

 

by: b_haynesPosted on 2008-12-10 at 08:43:44ID: 23140519

OK OK

The primary reason IMHO for this question is a need to store data. Get an external Hard Drive move your archival data there and when an audit trail is required you are covered. External HDs are cheap; check out Tiger Direct or the like. You can get like a TB for a couple hundred bucks. I just got a 1/2 TB for $130.   :-)

 

by: kieran_bPosted on 2008-12-10 at 14:57:21ID: 23144175

The problem with any kind of PST backup anywhere (especially so on a non-redundant single disk) is that you are going to have a huge PITA accessing them to find specific emails.

20120131-EE-VQP-002

3 Ways to Join

30-Day Free Trial

The Experts

98% positive feedback on 31,087 answers since March 2000. angeliii is a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional for his work with MS SQL Server & Develoment.

He has also proven his knowledge of Visual Basic Programming, PHP Scripting and Oracle Databases.

The Experts

97% positive feedback on 10,752 answers since July 2000. lrmoore has more than 18 years experience in the networking industry.

The six-time Mircosoft MVPs specialties include firewalls, virtual private networking, and network management.

Testimonials

"...and excellent source for support... Kind of like having your very own IT dept." Electriciansnet

Testimonials

"I was apprehensive at signing up at first. However... it has already made my life as an IT administrator much easier." JaCrews

Testimonials

"WOW! You guys have great, active, and knowledgeable people on here." moore50

Business Clients

Business Clients

In the Press

"If you’ve got a question... Experts Exchange can supply an answer.”

In the Press

"...an invaluable aid for both IT professionals and those who require tech support."

In the Press

"where IT professionals provide quick answers on just about any topic"

Business Account Plans

Loading Advertisement...