Messages volume management through years

The installation of the automatic archive solution ArchiveOnDB strongly decreases the volume of the messages hosted by the Mail servers of the company, and thus reduces the costs related to the storage of the messages on the servers.

The first stage of the process transfers the oldest messages from the user's mail box to the archives bases which are hosted on an archive oriented Domino server. Cutting messages per year makes it possible to offer a first level of classification of the data (a database per year) but it also makes it possible to divide the total volume of the mail box initially contained in a file (the user's mail database) into several under-volumes (the archive databases). This cutting makes it possible to be freed from the limits of volume of the nsf files (to accumulate all the messages in only one archive database file is not possible) but it also offers the means of managing the data according to their importance: the obsolescence of the messages being related to their age, a solution would be to host on a server of the site the archive databases two year old previous, and on an external server the archive databases even older. Thus, the obsolete data are moved away from the user.

As it is not acceptable to preserve several years of archive databases on the Domino Server in the company, it is necessary to be able to remove from archive server the oldest archives bases, but by offering to the user a means of continuing to reach its data.

• The first solution consists in copying the archive databases on a USB key or by burning the databases on a read-only media such as CD-Rom or a DVD. The ArchiveOnDB process integrates the management of such media by preparing the archive databases into being written on such devices (rebuilding of all the views & folders indexes) and to be then directly reached there. The user will put the CD in his PC and will be able to open the archive database files (.nsf Notes file) directly. There does not need to copy the database on the hard drive of the computer.
  
  
• The second solution consists in transferring the contents from the archive database (.nsf Notes file) as XML / HTML files. There is no need anymore to use a Notes client to read his messages, a simple internet browser makes it possible to navigate into the messages to read them. These files can be burned on a CD / DVD or to be hosted on a file server. To transfer the contents from the Notes databases under XML / HTML format, it is mandatory to use another module called NotesExtractor.
  
  
• The third solution consists in safeguarding the archive databases on dedicated media (DAT) and restoring them on user's request.

The following diagram shows a message's various types of storage of a during its existence :

Recently arrived messages are stored in the user's mail file, hosted on the mail server. After X months delay (generally a year), it is transferred in a archive database, corresponding to its year of creation. It can remain on the archive server during 1 or 2 years (or more). When the archive database is considered to be obsolete, it is transferred on CD or another media, in order to be removed from the archive server. It is given to the user (CD, HTML files), or placed on a safeguard system.

The old messages may be hosted as far away as possible from the user, which makes it possible to reduce its hosting cost.