Archive Manager for Exchange 8.6 - Administration Guide

Retention tab

On the Retention tab of the Manager view different retention categories for email archiving can be set (e.g. retention category for short-term documents, retention category for long-term documents etc.). In other words, various types of emails require different ways of archiving and the time for which they must be stored and retrievable can differ as well. Further we discuss the usage of retention categories, their description and management from the end-user point of view.

Various features of retention categories enhance the adaptability of Archive Manager for Exchange for individual users together with the email life-cycle management. Emails can now be archived with two-tier delete and manipulation protection. Tier one defines the retention time in which archived emails can be neither deleted nor moved to different storage media – these policies vary according to company or state regulations. Tier two allows the administrator to transfer emails to long term storage media or delete them.

The shortcut creation time known simply as "shortcut delay” can be defined allowing Blackberry users’ access to mails and attachments that have already been archived. The "Delete shortcut after a time” feature can be used to reduce the number of "redundant” shortcuts left in the Microsoft Exchange Store after a specific number of days, months or years.

The retention categories which are created here can be assigned to jobs on the Jobs tab.

Retention categories and their usage

The following types of settings are available:

Settings related to emails in the HSM Store:

·Retention time – the archived email is not delete-able from the HSM Store for the defined time period. Retention time is thus the MOST CRUCIAL feature of Archive Manager for Exchange related to law regulations. Emails ‘deleted’ using functionalities of Archive Manager for Exchange or Outlook Addin are actually only marked for deletion and they reside in the archive until this retention time expires.

·Delete time – the email, although not marked for deletion, is automatically deleted (by the Delete Files job) from the archive after the expiration of the defined time period. It is the MAXIMAL time for which the emails reside in the HSM Store. This time period cannot be smaller than the retention time.

·Keep-alive time – it is the time period after email deletion, during which the deleted email can be turned back to the store. However, this is possible only if the Delete time has not elapsed yet.

Settings related to emails on the MS Microsoft Exchange Server:

·Keep the original email – email is archived but it is not modified in any way (no icon, no shortcut, keep residing on the MS Microsoft Exchange Server). This option is used just for backup.

·Delete original email – the email is removed from the MS Microsoft Exchange Server immediately after archiving, no shortcut is created thus it is not reachable from the user’s mailbox and it is displayed as "lost” in the Archive view.

·Create shortcut – the email is archived and it is replaced with a shortcut. This type of archiving saves the space on the MS Microsoft Exchange Server and at the same time activates the user to work with the archived email just as with non-archived one. Email can be replaced with the shortcut immediately or it is kept without changes for the defined time period and after its expiration shortcut is created ("Delay shortcut creation by” option ).

oDelete shortcut after a time – the shortcut of the email is automatically removed from the MS Microsoft Exchange Server after the expiration of the defined time period (email cannot be reached from the user’s mailbox any longer and is displayed as ‘lost’ in the Archive view). However the email still resides in HSM Store.

The starting point of all the above mentioned times (except the Keep-alive time) is either the moment of archiving or the moment of receipt. The starting point can be set when the retention category is created.

In addition to the default retention category created during installation the administrator is able to create any number of retention categories satisfying specific criteria of the enterprise. The retention category consists of a name, a description, the above mentioned retention times and of the HSM scheme. It is fully manageable from Archive Manager for Exchange.

Creating a new retention category

Steps to create a new retention category

1.On the View menu click Manager.

2.Click on the Retention tab.

3.Right-click inside the list view, select New category from the context menu and navigate through the wizard as follows:

4.Basic settings window pops-up. Enter the name for your retention category in the Category name text box (e.g. Keep shortcut for 3 years).

5.In the Target HSM scheme dropdown box choose the target scheme which will be used for archiving. In the HSM system you may define different HSM Schemas, which are virtual categories for documents. (One HSM Schema has been created at installation of Archive Manager for Exchange and you may have created more HSM Schemas during the setup of Archive Manager for Exchange, each with a particular number assigned to it.)

6.In the Lifetime calculated from dropdown box you can choose from two options – Archive time and Receive time; i.e. you can define here the starting point from which the all the retention related times must be calculated. Either it will be the time when the item gets archived (Archive time) or it will be the item’s Received time.

7.In the Category description text box fill in a short description of the new category.

8.Click Next.

9.In the Document lifetime window specify your settings.

It is strongly recommended paying very much attention to these settings as they define the time period for which the emails are archived.

Set the Retention time. During this period none of the emails in the HSM store archived via this retention category can be removed from the archive. It is possible to select:

·Fixed period (set the period)

·Indefinite period (the retention time is not set specifically but can be defined later)

·Infinite period (retention is everlasting)

Select Activate automatic document deletion checkbox and specify Delete time if you want to COMPLETELY DELETE an archived emails whose retention time has elapsed from the HSM Store after a defined time.

By specifying the Keep alive time you set the time period for which the email, deleted after its retention time has elapsed, will be still kept in the HSM Store. Just use the arrows to set the time or directly overwrite it. Delete and Keep alive time can be set in days, months or years.

10.Click Next.

11.In the Shortcut lifetime window you can choose from three options:

a.Keep the original e-mail – select this option, must you wish to archive email and not to modify it in any way. In this case no shortcut will be created and the whole email will reside in the MS Microsoft Exchange Server. In the Archive view on the Mailbox tab such item will be displayed with the following icon:

b.Delete original e-mail – select this option, must you wish to delete all original email from the MS Microsoft Exchange Server immediately after its archiving. No shortcut is created and the email is not accessible from the user’s mailbox. In the Archive view such item is displayed as lost.

c.Create shortcut – select this option, must you wish to replace the original email with a shortcut after archiving and thus make it accessible for the user and save the space on MS Microsoft Exchange Server at the same time.

In case you have selected the Create shortcut option, further settings become available and you can adjust shortcut behavior to meet your needs. You can choose if the shortcut creation will follow immediately after archiving of the email (Create shortcut immediately radio button) or will be delayed for the specified period of time (Delay shortcut creation by radio button) when e.g. Blackberry users will be able to view their attachments. While no shortcut is created, the email is displayed in the Archive view with the following icon:

Moreover, you can decide whether you want to keep the shortcut in the user’s mailbox until the user deletes it (Keep shortcut for ever option) or the shortcut will be deleted automatically after the defined time (Delete shortcut after a time option).

12.Click Next.

13.Extra settings window pops-up. If the Allow automatic deletion of unreferenced emails checkbox is selected, emails archived via this category will be marked for deletion whenever the Shortcut Sync job cannot find the reference to the emails in any of the users’ mailboxes. If the check-box is not selected, Shortcut Sync job will not marked eventual "lost items” for deletion (see the section "Shortcut Sync job”).

Example:

I.Emails are archived by a retention category with Allow automatic deletion of unreferenced emails checked and shortcuts are left in the Microsoft Exchange Server

II.You delete shortcuts from Microsoft Exchange (either by removing the shortcuts manually in a mailbox, or by deleting a folder in Outlook that contains shortcuts etc.) → emails become "lost items”

III.You run the Shortcut Synchronization Job → lost items are marked for deletion

IV.Items marked for deletion are deleted from archive when their Retention (and Keep alive) time elapses and you run the Delete Files job

14.Click Next to finish the creation of the new retention category.

Changing the settings of a retention category

To change the settings of an existing retention category:

1.Double-click the selected retention category to open the Retention category properties window (or right-click it to open its context menu and select Properties).

2.On the respective tabs specify your new settings for the retention category. On the General tab you can change the name, HSM Scheme, retention time, keep alive time as well as allow automatic deletion of old documents and modify related Delete retention time. Click Apply and OK.

3.Shortcut settings can be modified on the Shortcut tab. Click Apply and OK to apply the new settings.

4.On the Additional tab set the shortcut synchronization behavior – if the Activate document clean-up by Shortcut synchronization job checkbox is selected, emails archived via this category will be marked for deletion (or completely deleted if their retention time is 0) whenever the Shortcut synchronization job cannot find the reference to the emails in any of the users’ mailboxes. If the checkbox is not selected, Shortcut synchronization job will not mark them.

5.Click Apply and OK to apply your settings.

How to customize retention categories list view

After right-clicking any retention category on the Retention tab, the context menu appears.

·Add/Remove columns – click it in case you want to add or remove columns from the list view. Add/Remove columns window opens. To add/remove a column, select the one from the Available columns/Selected columns list. Then click on the Add/Remove button.

To change the order of the selected columns click the one you want to move and use the Up and Down buttons. Click OK.

·Delete category – retention category can be deleted only if nothing was archived via this retention category