Any archiving tool must interface with your email or database system, yet impose minimum performance penalties against the applications using the email archive. It's also important to have retention rules planned ahead of time, and the email archive tool must scale well as email storage increases.
All the above considerations complicate the process of choosing an email archive tool. The listings below are for a cross-section of email archiving products which were chosen based on input from industry analysts and SearchStorage.com editors. The products specifications, which were provided by the vendors, are current as of These listings are periodically updated; updates (or specs for new products) can be sent to Matt Perkins.
Zantaz Inc.; Enterprise Archive Solution (EAS)
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Product Snapshot #1
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Product: C2C; Archive One
Email Platforms Supported: Microsoft Exchange 2000 & 2003, Exchange 5.5, Outlook 2000 or later, Outlook Web Access, and Windows Mobile 5.0
Storage Requirements: Storage requirements vary with the amount of email being archived.
Storage Reduction: All information is compressed from 40-80% using standard algorithms as it is placed into archive. Archived volumes are reduced further by saving duplicated attachments only once. C2C also allows customer to 'sanitize' data in the mail stores before archiving (removing MP3 attachments etc).
Compliance/Discovery Features: It utilizes Server Journaling technology to capture copies of every new internal and external email. To ensure the integrity of the archive all activity is monitored continuously and audit trails are made of all critical activities. Administrators are able to implement tiered delegation, allowing lower level operators to perform their duties without jeopardizing the security of the archive. Multi-criteria search and retrieval makes locating lost email or correspondence quick and painless.
Management Features: Forty six different selection criteria with twenty three choices of Boolean logic enable easy policy creation for archiving email. An indexed email archive assists administrators in search, retrieval, and monitoring activities. Archive One enables easy management of permissions which control access to core parts of the mail system and prevents unauthorized access to sensitive information. Archive One is designed to run multiple policies so that groups of users, mailboxes and PST files can be treated according to varying regulations.
Metadata: Archive One creates indexes which contain data about the words and
proprieties (to, from, subject etc) of an email and attachments.
Search Features: Archive One uses a sophisticated rules engine to index email automatically prior to archiving. The index is integrated into the archive to enable high speed search and retrieval of email. Searching and retrieving messages is easy through selectable, user or administrator driven, web or Outlook based interfaces. Additional features such as proximity searching make it even easier for the administrator and other users to retrieve the information they require.
Restoration Features: Once retrieved, Archive One decompresses, rebinds attachments and restores archived messages to their original format. Restored messages can be replied to, copied, forwarded and treated in the same manner as prior to archiving. Archive One also allows unarchiving of data -- restoring the users mailbox completely to its pre-archived state.
Retention Policy Features: Archive One stores email for regulatory requirements. Multiple retention policies can be set to meet varying requirements and adjusted as regulations change. Retention criteria and time limits are enforced automatically, deleting appropriate data in accordance with regulations.
Security and Enforcement Features: Archive One provides administrators with control and verification of Exchange Mailbox and public folder access rights and permissions. Archive One helps prevent unauthorized users from gaining access to confidential or critical information by making certain that appropriate permissions are set. Archive One provides preventative monitoring and control over access permissions to avoid security flaws from developing or being exploited.
Operating System: Requires Windows 2000 SP4, Windows XP, or Windows 2003
System Requirements: C2C software requires a minimum of a 1.4 GHz machine with 40Gb disk space (plus storage space for the archives), and 256 Mb of free memory.
Vendor Comment: C2C offers email archiving and management solutions which reduce risk, optimize performance and minimize compliance issues for over three million users at more than 2,000 organizations world-wide. Based on their in depth understanding of message management, C2C developed its award-winning Archive One suite to help organizations comply with industry regulations and minimize mailbox size.
Availability: Currently available
Base Cost: $17.00 USD per mailbox
Detailed Specs: http://www.c2c.com/site/products/archiveone/policy/policy_tech.asp
Vendor URL: http://www.c2c.com
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Product Snapshot #2
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Product: CommVault; Data Archiver
Email Platforms Supported: Two (Exchange, Notes/Domino)
Storage Reduction: CommVault Simpana 7.0 has best-in-class object compression technology. Simpana deduplicates data at an object level (file, email, etc.) however, unlike traditional approaches, Simpana single-instancing works across all input and systems types. For example, a presentation saved in a file share which is emailed and then finally archived will still result in only one copy of the presentation in the shared storage pool. This object-level single-instance technology also allows for deduplication between backup jobs and archive jobs that reduces the total footprint of managed data on the target disk.
Compliance Features: Offers compliance-based archiving to meet regulatory or corporate governance requirements (such as SEC Rule 17a; New York Stock Exchange rules; the Universal Market Integrity Rules for Canadian Marketplaces; the Companies Act in the UK; privacy acts and laws worldwide; the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA); the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act; the European Union Data Protection Directive of 2002, Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX); Rule 21 CFR 11; USA Patriot Act; USA DoD Directive 5015; Bill 198 in Ontario; the European Union Markets in Financial Instruments Directive; Basel II; the UK's Combined Code of Corporate Governance 2003).
Discovery Features: Offers e-discovery and legal hold for litigation support. A virtual "pool" of content-indexed data enables superior, quick e-discovery across backup and archive data.
Management Features: CommVault's singular approach to data management is a clear differentiator and "unfair" advantage. Offering a unified, scalable platform optimized for data management as the basis for email active archive, provides CommVault with a natural capability to respond easily to customer needs as their requirements change and expand over time.
This singular approach is proven to provide better cost-savings and increased efficiencies by sharing servers, networks and storage infrastructure among different types of active-archive as well as between archive and backup operations.
Metadata: CommVault can content index not just the metadata of a file, but the data itself according to 370 different file types in 77 different languages. Customers can set which types of archived data should be indexed, and can set the indexing to be used with specific users according to corporate policies.
Search Features: The CommVault Search web interface, enabled through CommVault's partnership with FAST, allows search, sort, select and retrieve of corporate files and information from online, archive and backup data copies. This is done with a web browser, without having to install an application on the desktop. Users also have the option of accessing this rich information natively within their own Microsoft Outlook using an Outlook plug-in. For legal discovery and compliance search, auditors and business teams have access to data owned by multiple users across all applications. This allows for rapid retrieval of Electronically Stored Information (ESI) when litigation is pending. Timely responsiveness is a key requirement in providing information for meet-and-confer sessions, as is being emphasized with the recent amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP). Having powerful search at business-user fingertips provides peace of mind that all data can be searched and subsequently put on legal hold, as required.
Restoration Features: CommVault Simpana software's infrastructure allows the administrator to perform unlimited data tiering to any number of targets. Simpana includes the ability to archive to tape without any additional software.
In using dissimilar system restore, any piece of data can be restored to any server. This allows for backups or archives of Exchange 2003 to be restored to Exchange 2007. This data portability also allows for restoration of items to SharePoint as well as file systems.
Security and Enforcement Features: CommVault Simpana 7.0 features very strong security for data in a number of areas. For user authentication and authorization Simpana integrates with Active Directory to map user permission to application roles. The search and restore functions all use active directory to determine access to data. During job runs, data in motion can be encrypted as it is on the wire for more secure transmission, while data at rest can also be encrypted, either on the fly or after the data has reached its long term repository. This applies to all data under management with CommVault Simpana, including backup, archive or replicated data.
Operating System:Exchange; Linux; UNIX; IBM
Availability: Available now
Base Cost: Licenses per user mailbox. Contact CommVault for up-to-date pricing, customized for your environment.
Detailed Specs: http://www.commvault.com/pdf/DS_DA_MSFTExchange.pdf,
http://www.commvault.com/pdf/DS_DA_LotusDomino.pdf
Vendor URL: http://www.CommVault.com
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Product Snapshot #3
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Product: EMC Corp.; EmailXtender v4.8
Email Platforms Supported: Microsoft Exchange 2000/2003/2007; Lotus Domino 6, 6.5, 7; Microsoft Outlook 2000, XP, or 2003 ; Lotus Notes 6, 6.5, 7; IM; Bloomberg; Sendmail 8.12.8 or higher
Storage Requirements: EmailXtender runs on a single server and requires approximately 200-250 MB of storage depending on the components installed.
Storage Reduction: A single instance of each incoming message (including both body and attachments) is created by the EmailXtender server using patented de-duplication technology. Single instance storage of messages and attachments plus 2:1 data compression reduces overall storage requirements.
Compliance/Discovery Features: Features include email retention; PST/NSF file migration; authentic and complete archive; archive monitoring; comprehensive discovery search; user identity mapping
Management Features: Users can drag and drop messages from their inbox into pre-defined archive folders with pre-set retention periods. Allows users to classify which emails are business important and should be archived. Folder permissions settings determine who can see the content and enables deletion out of these dedicated folders. Content remains accessible whether users are online or offline and is searchable through a native client search plug-in.
Metadata: Archived messages are stored with address metadata (From, To, Cc, and Bcc), subject, attachment information, distribution list, alias information, and full-text indexes of subject, message body, and attachments.
Search Features: End users and administrators can search by keyword, date range, and address metadata. Wildcards can be used to extend search selections. Common searches can be saved and used over again. Enables searches of the EmailXtender archive based on delegates permissions established in Notes or Outlook. Allows delegates to search on behalf of their users to find and/or retrieve messages in the archive. Provides more targeted searches of specific folders in the archive to speed results.
Restoration Features: Messages and attachments, archived and shortcut for storage management purposes, can be restored with a simple click of the mouse through the user's native Lotus Notes and Microsoft Outlook email client interface whether online or offline. Offline resolution of Exchange shortcuts requires a separately ordered User Cache module. Users can search for messages that have been completely removed from their mailbox and restore those messages quickly to their inbox.
Retention Policy Features: Retention policies can be set on individual folders within the EmailXtender Administration UI. Individual users or groups of users can be assigned to the folders, so in this way retention policies can be customized to the users or groups of users. Retention policies can also be configured for User Directed Archiving folders. Policies can be configured in one month intervals.
Security and Enforcement Features: Administrators can configure security at a user level. End users can be enabled to search only their messages from the archive, or a user can be given access to multiple individual's archive data. Access can also be granted on a folder level, so an individual or a group of individuals will have access to all archived messages in the particular folder. The administrator level has access to all the messages in the archive.
Operating System: Exchange 2000 SP3: Microsoft Windows 2000 Server or Advanced Server, SP4; Exchange 2003 SP1 or SP2: Microsoft Windows 2000 Server or Advanced Server, SP4; Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Standard or Enterprise Edition (32-bit), SP1 or R2. Lotus Domino (all): Sun Solaris 9 or 10; Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3.0 or 4.0 on 32-bit Intel platforms; SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 on 32-bit Intel platforms; IBM AIX 5.2 or 5.3; IBM OS/400 v5R3 or v5R4; Microsoft Windows 2000 Server or Advanced Server, SP4; Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Standard or Enterprise Edition (32-bit), SP1 or R2
System Requirements: Microsoft SQL Server 2000/2005, either Standard or Enterprise Edition; 1 dual CPU 32-bit Intel system with 4GB RAM and internal RAID disk drives. This is a minimum system for a single email archiving server -- actual requirements are likely to vary based on configuration demands, and should be assessed prior to installation.
Vendor Comment: EmailXtender is an email archiving solution that provides real-time and historical archiving of email and instant messages for mailbox management and compliance in a purpose-built archive. Shortcuts provide increased performance and efficiency of messaging operations.
Availability: EmailXtender and the EmailXtender User Cache module are available today. Support for Exchange 2007 will be delivered in the spring of 2007.
Base Cost: EmailXtender is licensed per user mailbox. Required Microsoft SQL Server licenses must be purchased separately.
Detailed Specs: http://software.emc.com/products/software_az/emailxtender_archive_edition.htm
Vendor URL: www.emc.com
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Product Snapshot #4
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Product: Fortiva Inc.; Fortiva Archive service
Email Platforms Supported: The Fortiva solution integrates with Active Directory and Microsoft Exchange, enabling IT staff to easily manage permissions and fully control employee access to archived data. Customers must be running Microsoft Exchange 2000, 2003 or 2007 with Active Directory Server to take advantage of the Fortiva solution.
Storage Requirements: Fortiva's on demand email archive does not require any storage to be purchased or maintained at the customer site. As the customer's storage needs grow, Fortiva allocates incremental storage increases to meet those requirements.
Storage Reduction: Fortiva's attachment stubbing feature allows customers to reduce Exchange message store size by as much as 80% by removing storage-intensive attachments from Exchange. Email attachments are seamlessly accessible from Outlook and can be retrieved from the archive at any time for viewing or forwarding purposes. Fortiva can import PST files directly to the archive while providing end user access to that data. As a result, customers can eliminate PST files, and in turn eliminate the storage impact of maintaining this data on corporate server storage and end user machines.
Compliance/Discovery Features: Real-time search and retrieval of archived data with advanced search options for legal discovery; Litigation hold feature protects selected data from routine deletion even after it passes the retention period in the policy; Automatic enforcement of the written corporate email policy ensures that compliance requirements including retention and supervision are met; Browser-based access to policies, archives and reports give compliance and legal hands-on control over policy enforcement; Advanced reporting tools provide insight into adherence with policies for compliance; Comprehensive and flexible supervision features allow customers to easily meet review requirements and monitor for policy adherence.
Management Features: Management features for IT include integration with Active Directory; Web-based policy interface; numerous reports; fully managed Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution
Metadata: Fortiva archives email in its native format, so the original metadata associated with each message is always complete and unchanged. In addition, Fortiva resolves distribution lists to the list of actual recipients, including all blind-carbon copied recipients, so all relevant information is maintained for future reference.
Search Features: Fortiva provides fast and easy access to archived messages through a web-based interface or right from Outlook and Outlook Web Access (OWA). Real-time search performance is made possible as a result of Fortiva's distributed, parallel search technology. Fortiva also provides advanced and powerful search features that meet even the most stringent legal discovery and review requirements.
Restoration Features: Messages from the archive can be printed, sent to the user's inbox, or exported into PST files. Retrieval and export features are accessed directly from the search results, allowing users to restore individual or multiple messages as required. All of these restoration options are offered on a self-service basis, so you don't have to wait for a professional services team to retrieve messages for you.
Retention Policy Features: Fortiva allows you to define multiple retention policies based on the parties involved or the content of the message. The appropriate retention period is automatically applied to each message as it is archived. With Fortiva's version tracking, every time the retention policy is changed, Fortiva tracks those changes so you can historically reference why a specific retention period was applied.
Security and Enforcement Features: Security features include automatic policy enforcement, DoubleBlind encryption for guaranteed data security; data redundancy; forensically compliant data; granular access control; and physical and network security
Operating System: No in-house software is required. Fortiva provides a fixed purpose appliance (server) for integration with Exchange and Active Directory.
System Requirements: Microsoft Exchange 2000, 2003 or 2007 with Active Directory Server
Vendor Comment: Fortiva's SaaS archiving platform takes advantage of a multi-tenant environment using low cost commodity storage while delivering instantaneous search capability and enterprise-class data security, availability, and protection. As a result, our customers can manage their email data at a lower cost, with less IT involvement, and with a higher service level performance than internally managed solutions.
Availability: Service is currently available
Base Cost: Fortiva has a simple pricing model of licensing fees ranging from $12 - $24 annually, (depending on the number of users), plus bundled storage and data management costs starting at $7,500 annually for 250GB.
Detailed Specs: Not provided
Vendor URL: www.fortiva.com
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Product Snapshot #5
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Product: GFI Software; MailArchiver software
Email Platforms Supported: GFI MailArchiver can be used with Exchange as well as other email servers with the capability of polling emails from a mail server which supports IMAP and Active Directory.
Storage Requirements: Use GFI MailArchiver to significantly reduce storage requirements for email by up to 80%, you may archive your email in an SQL database or directly to an NTFS hard drive.
Storage Reduction: GFI MailArchiver compresses and decompresses attachments on the fly, which results in considerable savings in terms of storage when compared to storing attachments in the Exchange stores. In addition, storing email in a database is more space efficient than storing in PST files.
Compliance/Discovery Features: By archiving all company email, GFI MailArchiver helps organizations to meet regulatory compliance such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. GFI MailArchiver also aids compliance with the following: E-Comm Act 2000, BS7799-2:2002, Enterprise Act 2002, Decreto del Presidente del Consiglio dei Ministri (8 febbraio 1999) and more.
Management Features: Archives emails for an entire organization into one or multiple MS SQL Server databases or an NTFS-formatted hard drive; Full web-based interface allowing end-users to search all past email from anywhere in the world; Allows users to quickly restore emails through a one-click restore process, even mistakenly deleted email!; Powerful searching capabilities – searching through multiple databases with a single search query
Metadata: Various data is created and stored by GFI MailArchiver, including but not limited to Received date; Recipients; Message ID; Email owner data; Email Body; Retention data; Subject; Attachment sizes
Search Features: Access emails from any location through a browser. Emails that had been deleted may also be seen (and restored). Also offers advanced email search and 'Saved Search' capabilities. Having a central store of email enables users to easily search through their past email and attachments (Microsoft Word, Excel, PDF, ZIP and many other formats). Once a search has been defined, the user has the possibility to save the search criteria for easy reference at a later date, similar to Microsoft Outlook Search Folders.
Restoration Features: OneClick Restore a single email to a mailbox by simply clicking on a button. Through this feature the user or the administrator can restore an email to a user's inbox in its original format. GFI MailArchiver restores any archived email (even deleted email) and these are resent to the user as an attachment.
Retention Policy Features: Setting up an email retention policy is critical and while email archiving is essential, retaining emails for an indefinite time is costly! With GFI MailArchiver you can create rules to delete one or more emails after a specific time, for example, you can delete all emails sent by the Marketing Department that are older than 7 years.
Security and Enforcement Features: Users only have access to their own emails. Further more, granular access control is available up to user level, for example a user can be granted access to the emails of another user, managers can be granted access to their respective groups and a full access group has access to all. Users are authenticated via the Active Directory. Retention policies can only be managed by the administrator. MailArchiver checks the content of an email against any retention policies at the time of archiving. For example a retention policy can be set up to delete emails with specific keywords or phrases in the body or subject, sent or received from particular email addresses or domains, after 90 days.
Operating System: Windows XP / 2000 / 2003
System Requirements: Windows 2000 (Service Pack 3 or higher) or Windows 2003; Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0; Internet Information Services (IIS) – World Wide Web service; Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5 or later
Vendor Comment: GFI MailArchiver is an email archiving solution that enables you to archive all internal and external Exchange server email, reducing reliance on PST files. It allows network admins to provide users with easy, centralized access to past email via a web-based search interface.
Availability: Currently available
Base Cost: For pricing details please visit: http://www.gfi.com/pricing/pricelist.aspx?product=mar&curr=usd&lang=en
Detailed Specs: http://www.gfi.com/mailarchiver/
Vendor URL: http://www.gfi.com
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Product Snapshot #6
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Product: IBM CommonStore for Exchange Server; IBM CommonStore for Lotus Domino; IBM CommonStore eMail Archiving Preload
Email Platforms Supported: Supports MS Exchange 5.5, 2000, 2003; Supports Outlook 2000, XP, 2003; Supports Domino R6, R6.5, R7
Storage Requirements: Dependent on amo
