"Outlook TIPS and TRICKS "
Outlook 2003 is the email client of choice for many of BrightCity's customers. It's a great application, and is easy to use. So easy that many companies treat it as a "training free" application. This is very far from the truth. These tech tips will cover a few basic issues that have come up over recent times.
"Outlook 2003 - use of Deleted Items folder"
I have seen several client's PCS where email folders have been built up in the "deleted items folder". "Deleted items" is meant to be emptied, normally automaticaly. Disk space is then freed up on the Exchange server and the local disk drive. One customer had their email "destroyed" when someone used their PC, and emptied the deleted items folder. It is common mistake - made more often than you think.
"Outlook 2003 - Pst File Size "
Outlook by default, puts all email, contact and calendar information into a local pst file. This file, with no warnings, is allowed to continue to grow. If the hard drive fails, it could take your last decade of email data with it! Even if the drive files, at about 2Gb in size, the pst file starts to corrupt itself. Luckily Microsoft have issued a tool called "scanpst" that will cut out any data it thinks is corrupt. You could still lose almost everything, depending on where the corruption has occurred.
Top Tips...
Keep an eye on your pst file size.
Create separate pst files, keeping them at a reasonable size.
Backup you pst files to CDR or DVDR, or a removable drive.
Turn off "journal" if you don't need it.
"Exchange Server" Email Limitations
Exchange server, used in a business server environment, will allow you to set limits for all of the key areas of mailbox management.
Some Exchange versions have limitations imposed by Microsoft. The size of your email system dictates which version you need to purchase - ranging from Small Business Server 2003 to Exchange Server 2003 Enterprise. You will need to set limits on your mailbox users to manage these limits.
Limiting some items just makes good common sense. For example there is no need to allow your organisation to email 100Mb of data. You may also need to watch your backup drive capacity. You may have to limit the system to a 36/72Gb Dat drive, or a 80Gb DLT, even though you have more disk space.
Small Business Server 2003 has a 16Gb email limit. Hit this limit, and your email server stops working. It will take several hours to try to get the Exchange Server running again. It is also a risky process, where step one is "when was you last successful backup!".
This limit is imposed as a licencing limit - if you require a larger email solution, then you need to look at Windows 2003 Server and a separate installation of Exchange Server. You will need Client Access Licences (CALS) for each, plus a project to install the solution.
Your administrator can install an email policy where you can try to control mail flow through your company. BrightCity offer support in this area.
Mailbox size: Limit the total size of a user's mailbox. Issue a warning, then if size persists, stop the user sending email, and then finally, prevent the account sending and receiving.
Maximum mail size: Limit down the size of emails that can be sent or received.
Archive: Setup manual or automatic archiving to separate .pst files.
Email Policy: Setup a sensible policy, such as not to send attachments to the whole company, but place them on a public folder and alert the appropriate groups of people of the location. You could consider of use of Sharepoint Services, or "Intranet".
