Removing messages from Exchange for long term storage (archiving) 1

[Tightpants]

We use public folders in Exchange to store all our project related messages. So when a user sends or receives a message they file it in the appropriate public folder so everyone can see it. This system works really well.

However our public folder store is reaching its limit of 16Gb and I have identified a good deal of information which could be archived, ie. taken out of the store.

My question is:

1. Should I create a PST for each project and move the messages to this? The advantage of this system is that users could attach the PST to Outlook to search messages or to add more messages, or,

2. Should I use something like MsgSave (

http://www.msgsave.com)

to convert messages to .MSG files? I could store the .MSG files in a folder with other project documents. However with this system the messages are not searchable (I think).

We have about 50 projects per year to archive so making PST files would be time consuming. MsgSave would do the task in a few minutes leaving a set of folders to file as necessary.

I really don't want to upgrade to Exchange Enterprise or spend big bucks on a database type system to store archived messages.

I would really appreciate the benefit of your experience on this one.

 

[markdmac]

I'd go with the PST files for now.

I've heard rumors that the 16GB limit may go away for standard version, so keep your eyes on the tech news for any updates or service packs when R2 releases.

I hope you find this post helpful.

Regards,

Mark

 

[Tightpants]

We ran out of space today so I will be making some PST files tomorrow! Thanks for your recommendation.