Outlook 2003 and roaming profiles

[Stuart Mackie [MCP, MSP]]

Hi. we are running Office 2003 Professional and have rolled out Roaming
Profiles today mainly to have a centralised place for data backup. Outlook
is accessing our Exchange server through the normal exchange connection.
Users then pull their email from the server into a local pst file (emails
are stored for 30 days on the Exchange server before being deleted). Since
outlook creates the pst file in %username%\Local Settings\Application
Data\Microsoft\Outlook\... it doesn't get included in the normal roaming
profile, which means it is being left of the user's workstation rather than
stored on the server.

Can anyone suggest what the normal practice is to get user's personal/local
pst files added into Roaming Profiles ? Are there any disadvantages to
doing this if the PST files are large e.g. 1GB+ ?
Should we be considering changing our current policy and allow the users to
store all their emails within their exchange mailbox and have them archive
emails to archive PST files in their Documents folder ?

Any other suggestions/comments would be great.

Thanks for any help,
Stuart.

 

[greg mansius [MSFT]]

Stuart,

Just to let you know, storing .pst files on a network share is not
supported. So, your archiving strategy sounds like the way to go.

Hope this helps.

 

[D.P. Roberts]

I recommend storing mail on your exchange box rather than in local pst
files. This provides for a centralized depository which allows users to
access their mail from anywhere and also provides you with the benefit of
performing routine backups. You can set size limits on their exchange
storage, and have your users configure auto-archiving to a local pst or even
a pst on a network share (so it can be backed up as well).

 

[Stuart Mackie [MCP, MSP]]

Hi. So the best method is probably for us to get users archive their
current pst(s) and store them on a network share (so we can take backups
easily). We would then move the emails left in their current PST file back
into our Exchange server and probably extend the 30 day limit to give more
flexibility.

Without pushing my luck Our server has a significant amount of space for
Exchange mailboxes. Can anyone suggest what a reasonable limit would be so
that we don't start affecting the performance of the server, or the
degrading the speed the user can navigate through their mail ?

What happens when a users mailbox is full, do new emails get rejected by the
server or queued ?

Thanks again for your help,
Stuart.

Stuart,

Just to let you know, storing .pst files on a network share is not
supported. So, your archiving strategy sounds like the way to go.

Hope this helps.

--
Greg Mansius [MSFT]

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

Hi. we are running Office 2003 Professional and have rolled out Roaming
Profiles today mainly to have a centralised place for data backup. Outlook
is accessing our Exchange server through the normal exchange connection.
Users then pull their email from the server into a local pst file (emails
are stored for 30 days on the Exchange server before being deleted). Since
outlook creates the pst file in %username%\Local Settings\Application
Data\Microsoft\Outlook\... it doesn't get included in the normal roaming
profile, which means it is being left of the user's workstation rather than
stored on the server.

Can anyone suggest what the normal practice is to get user's personal/local
pst files added into Roaming Profiles ? Are there any disadvantages to
doing this if the PST files are large e.g. 1GB+ ?
Should we be considering changing our current policy and allow the users to
store all their emails within their exchange mailbox and have them archive
emails to archive PST files in their Documents folder ?

Any other suggestions/comments would be great.

Thanks for any help,
Stuart.

 

[D.P. Roberts [MCSE,MCSD,MCDBA]]

Quota size really depends on your circumstances, including number of users,
amount of storage space, etc. 500 MB to 1 GB probably works for most.

I believe messages are returned to sender as undeliverable when the quota is
full.

Hi. So the best method is probably for us to get users archive their
current pst(s) and store them on a network share (so we can take backups
easily). We would then move the emails left in their current PST file back
into our Exchange server and probably extend the 30 day limit to give more
flexibility.

Without pushing my luck Our server has a significant amount of space for
Exchange mailboxes. Can anyone suggest what a reasonable limit would be so
that we don't start affecting the performance of the server, or the
degrading the speed the user can navigate through their mail ?

What happens when a users mailbox is full, do new emails get rejected by the
server or queued ?

Thanks again for your help,
Stuart.

Stuart,

Just to let you know, storing .pst files on a network share is not
supported. So, your archiving strategy sounds like the way to go.

Hope this helps.

--
Greg Mansius [MSFT]

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

Hi. we are running Office 2003 Professional and have rolled out Roaming
Profiles today mainly to have a centralised place for data backup. Outlook
is accessing our Exchange server through the normal exchange connection.
Users then pull their email from the server into a local pst file (emails
are stored for 30 days on the Exchange server before being deleted). Since
outlook creates the pst file in %username%\Local Settings\Application
Data\Microsoft\Outlook\... it doesn't get included in the normal roaming
profile, which means it is being left of the user's workstation rather than
stored on the server.

Can anyone suggest what the normal practice is to get user's personal/local
pst files added into Roaming Profiles ? Are there any disadvantages to
doing this if the PST files are large e.g. 1GB+ ?
Should we be considering changing our current policy and allow the

users
to

store all their emails within their exchange mailbox and have them archive
emails to archive PST files in their Documents folder ?

Any other suggestions/comments would be great.

Thanks for any help,
Stuart.