How to STOP Email Synchronization in Outlook 2003

[Robert]

I work in a large multi-national company that uses Microsoft Exchange Server
2003 SP2 as its email server. And, while we currently support several
different email clients, my concern is with Outlook 2003, especially in
Cached Exchange Mode.

Our company has set a 30-day retention policy on messages on the serer. No
problem, we download messages anyway. But, a number of our employees
experienced catastrophic loss of important email due to the synchronization
process between the server and the client machines.

Coming from other businesses that don't use Exchange Server, this can be
quite a shock when you suddenly realize all your email is gone! These people
were used to simply downloading messages from their company's mail server,
filing them away and forgetting about them. "Synchronization" meant you
download messages from the server, and you sent messages to your recipients,
PERIOD. What in the world was Microsoft thinking about when designing a
“synchronization†process that automatically deletes messages from a user's
Mailbox that the user didn't previously delete?

I am one such victim, and had no clue that Exchange server would seek &
destroy messages that I had downloaded to my desktop for safe keeping, and
even filed away in user-created folders away from the Inbox. But, they
actively support users setting up AutoArchive to retain messages.)

I’ve been tasked with producing a comprehensive explanation and user
documentation custom-tailored for our employees which addresses these topics.
I’ve found most of what I need through Outlook Help, the Online Help site,
and the Online “Microsoft Outlook 2003 Tutorialâ€. However, a few questions
still remain, which I hope someone can authoritatively and definitively
answer. (We're going to publish this internally, so it needs to be accurate.)


Synchronization Questions:

1. Is “synchronization†a user option which can be turned off by the
client? We'd like to setup Outlook to only download received messages and not
purge them from the local machines?

2. If synchronization can be turned off, how is this done?

3. If its not possible, is there a work-around (other than using .pst
files)? We’re aware of .pst files and Personal Folders. But, we'd like to
keep it as simple as possible for our users and not require them to use
AutoArchive if we can help it.

4. For messages which have already been purged from a local machine, are
there any log files on the local machine which show the last activity date of
a specific folder and when its messages were deleted, in case a restoration
is needed?


Thanks in advance for your time, and any help or insight you might offer in
this regard,

-Robert

 

[Roady [MVP]]

I won't answer your questions directly as answering them will not make
sense. The issue is that you do not understand what an Exchange server is
and does. An Exchange server is a server that can (amongst others) process
and store mail for a corporation. This means that Exchange is responsible
for sending messages, receiving messages and putting it in the correct
mailbox. Outlook is only a client and by configuring an Exchange account you
basically look in the Exchange database to see your email. Outlook can keep
a cache of that mailbox so that you can work offline with it and also to
reduce network traffic and other resources on the Exchange server when
requesting the same email multiple times. To keep this cache up-to-date with
both new and modified items Outlook needs to synchronize with Exchange. This
is a 2-way sync so what you see on the client is always the same as on the
server.

So to come back to your original message I start with this remark of yours;

Synchronization" meant you
download messages from the server, and you sent messages to your
recipients,
PERIOD. What in the world was Microsoft thinking about when designing a
“synchronization†process that automatically deletes messages from a
user's
Mailbox that the user didn't previously delete?

You can see that you were wrong on this assumption. Other than keeping your
mail in your home environment via POP3 where you are responsible for your
mail and not your ISP, in a corporate environment the mail admin is
responsible for the mail infrastructure. This calls for a centralized mail
solution (Exchange) instead of a per client (home/POP3) solution.

Our company has set a 30-day retention policy on messages on the serer. No
problem, we download messages anyway.

Here again; centralized solution. All items that is older than 30-days and
still in your mailbox gets deleted. This doesn't require a user action. You
were wrong to think that you downloaded them; you only looked at them being
on the mail server via Outlook as an Exchange account is a direct connection
to what's in the mail database or in other words; your mailbox. As long as
they are in your mailbox they are on the server. Moving them out of your
mailbox into a pst-file means that you've actually downloaded them to your
local client. If there is a business need to keep messages longer than 30
days, you should ask why they have a retention time of 30-days in the first
place.

This question is one you can answer now;

4. For messages which have already been purged from a local machine, are
there any log files on the local machine which show the last activity date
of
a specific folder and when its messages were deleted, in case a
restoration
is needed?

No, as the items were never on the local machine to begin with (other than
the cache). Again; the Exchange server is a centralized solution and thus
backups have been made centralized as well. If anything important got
deleted from an Exchange mailbox, you should ask your admin if they still
have it in one of there backups. Mention when you last had that item so they
can load the correct backup.

 

[Robert]

Hey Robert (cool name!), thanks for replying to my questions! If I read you
correctly, what you're saying is that (regardless of whether I "understand"
Exchange Server or not), the Outlook client CANNOT turn-off the server's
ability to purge previously-cached messages (with the only exception being
those that are Deleted by the user). Being able to DOWNLOAD received messages
and upload sent messages as the ONLY client/server interaction is apparently
not possible with Exchange and Outlook. Please correct me if I'm wrong in
this assumption. Also, let me respond to some of your answers in a different
way so you understand where I'm coming from (see my responses, inline):

Thanks again for your time,
-Robert



------------------------------------------

I won't answer your questions directly as answering them will not make
sense. The issue is that you do not understand what an Exchange server is
and does. An Exchange server is a server that can (amongst others) process
and store mail for a corporation. This means that Exchange is responsible
for sending messages, receiving messages and putting it in the correct
mailbox. Outlook is only a client and by configuring an Exchange account you
basically look in the Exchange database to see your email. Outlook can keep
a cache of that mailbox so that you can work offline with it and also to
reduce network traffic and other resources on the Exchange server when
requesting the same email multiple times. To keep this cache up-to-date with
both new and modified items Outlook needs to synchronize with Exchange. This
is a 2-way sync so what you see on the client is always the same as on the
server.

According to our email services director, Cached Exchange Mode is the
peferred client setup for our company and does in fact download a copy of the
messages on the server to the client's cache for offline use. However,
whatever changes are made to the Mailbox on the client machine are
subsequently made to the user's Mailbox (share) on the server the next time
they sync.

So to come back to your original message I start with this remark of yours;
You can see that you were wrong on this assumption. Other than keeping your
mail in your home environment via POP3 where you are responsible for your
mail and not your ISP, in a corporate environment the mail admin is
responsible for the mail infrastructure. This calls for a centralized mail
solution (Exchange) instead of a per client (home/POP3) solution.

In a previous large company at which I worked (which used Eudora Pro
clients; I can't remember what the server was but it wasn't Exchange),
messages COULD either be left on the server (which eventually resulted in a
full Inbox, unless emptied), or downloaded to the client (which permanently
removed them from the server)! All message viewing, composing, sending and
storage was done in the active "Mailbox" file using downloaded messages (if
that's how you configured your client). Incoming mail was immediately
downloaded to the client from the server upon receipt, or on a schedule
established by the user. There was no need to create separate ".pst" files to
save messages; we had one mail file, not an "active" message file (.ost) and
an archived message file (.pst). And, the choice of whether to view messages
directly on the server or on the client was a user setup option, one which I
frankly miss.

Here again; centralized solution. All items that is older than 30-days and
still in your mailbox gets deleted. This doesn't require a user action. You
were wrong to think that you downloaded them; you only looked at them being
on the mail server via Outlook as an Exchange account is a direct connection
to what's in the mail database or in other words; your mailbox. As long as
they are in your mailbox they are on the server. Moving them out of your
mailbox into a pst-file means that you've actually downloaded them to your
local client.

(see responses, above)

If there is a business need to keep messages longer than 30
days, you should ask why they have a retention time of 30-days in the first
place.

This HAS in fact been addressed with our management. And, being that this is
a foreign-owned company, our U.S. division is the only one of our entire
world wide corporation that's plagued by such a 30-day retention policy. Its
a direct response to the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley statute. And, its their attempt
at reducing their corporate exposure (and saving server space at the same
time). However, they also recognize the need for employees to maintain longer
email histories. Therefore, they don't prohibit us from creating .pst files.
The problem is, not everyone is familiar with or comfortable with creating
and maintaining the two types of .pst files. We're looking for an easier
user-created solution for saving (archiving) email messages.

This question is one you can answer now;
No, as the items were never on the local machine to begin with (other than
the cache).

Well then, is there a log file that shows when the cache was last updated?

Again; the Exchange server is a centralized solution and thus
backups have been made centralized as well. If anything important got
deleted from an Exchange mailbox, you should ask your admin if they still
have it in one of there backups.

That would be great, but our company has a "no restore" policy as part of
its retention policy (already checked).

Mention when you last had that item so they can load the correct backup.

Again, that assumes you know when the message "disappeared", which you're
not likely to notice until you go to retrieve the message and find its gone.

Robert Sparnaaij [MVP-Outlook]
Coauthor, Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003


http://www.msoutlook.info/
Real World Questions, Real World Answers

-----

I work in a large multi-national company that uses Microsoft Exchange
Server
2003 SP2 as its email server. And, while we currently support several
different email clients, my concern is with Outlook 2003, especially in
Cached Exchange Mode.

Our company has set a 30-day retention policy on messages on the serer. No
problem, we download messages anyway. But, a number of our employees
experienced catastrophic loss of important email due to the
synchronization
process between the server and the client machines.

Coming from other businesses that don't use Exchange Server, this can be
quite a shock when you suddenly realize all your email is gone! These
people
were used to simply downloading messages from their company's mail server,
filing them away and forgetting about them. "Synchronization" meant you
download messages from the server, and you sent messages to your
recipients,
PERIOD. What in the world was Microsoft thinking about when designing a
“synchronization†process that automatically deletes messages from a
user's
Mailbox that the user didn't previously delete?

I am one such victim, and had no clue that Exchange server would seek &
destroy messages that I had downloaded to my desktop for safe keeping, and
even filed away in user-created folders away from the Inbox. But, they
actively support users setting up AutoArchive to retain messages.)

I’ve been tasked with producing a comprehensive explanation and user
documentation custom-tailored for our employees which addresses these
topics.
I’ve found most of what I need through Outlook Help, the Online Help site,
and the Online “Microsoft Outlook 2003 Tutorialâ€. However, a few questions
still remain, which I hope someone can authoritatively and definitively
answer. (We're going to publish this internally, so it needs to be
accurate.)


Synchronization Questions:

1. Is “synchronization†a user option which can be turned off by the
client? We'd like to setup Outlook to only download received messages and
not
purge them from the local machines?

2. If synchronization can be turned off, how is this done?

3. If its not possible, is there a work-around (other than using .pst
files)? We’re aware of .pst files and Personal Folders. But, we'd like to
keep it as simple as possible for our users and not require them to use
AutoArchive if we can help it.

4. For messages which have already been purged from a local machine, are
there any log files on the local machine which show the last activity date
of
a specific folder and when its messages were deleted, in case a
restoration
is needed?


Thanks in advance for your time, and any help or insight you might offer
in
this regard,

-Robert