archiving backups

[cdenley]

I need to implement a solution which will archive all incoming and outgoing e-mails, and move the e-mails to a dvd periodically. I was hoping Zimbra's archiving and discovery would be able to accomplish this, but I don't see anything for moving old, archived emails to dvd. When messages are archived, does it physically store the message twice, once in the archive and once in the user's inbox, or does it save disk space by referencing the same data twice? Do I need to modify amavisArchiveQuarantineTo and zimbraArchiveAccount manually every time I create a new account?

Right now, I'm thinking of using the always_bcc option in postfix, then writing a script which backs up and deletes old messages from the archive account. Is the cross mailbox search plugin part of the "archiving and discovery" addon which costs $24 per mailbox? If I only use it to search the archive account, would I pay based on the accounts on the server, only the account I would search, or none since I wouldn't have archiving enabled on any accounts?

[LMStone]

Originally Posted by cdenley

I need to implement a solution which will archive all incoming and outgoing e-mails, and move the e-mails to a dvd periodically.

That requirement really represents two separate tasks.

The Postfix always_bcc option will accomplish the first task, as will Zimbra NE's Archiving and Discovery module. But as you point out, A&D "costs" you a mailbox license for each mailbox you want to cover with A&D.

The always_bcc option frees you to have the destination be a non-Zimbra Postfix server, which may be less expensive (and could also be off-site), but then archiving to DVD from that other system will require you set up a mailstore (Cyrus?) and a methodology for doing the actual archiving.

When clients ask us how to solve these problems, we generally ask the following questions:

1. Are you subject to any regulatory requirements that may have an impact on the methodology used for archiving?
2. Is having the archives encrypted a requirement?
3. In your business, are you concerned about Rules 24 and 36 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (which govern production of electronic documents, like emails)?
4. What are you anticipating will be the cost to maintain/administer a non-Zimbra archiving and discovery system, and how does that cost compare with adding a dedicated A&D server to the Zimbra farm?

So, basically, we are looking to see if the client even has the option of using the always_bcc option. If not, then A&D is what it is. If they do have the option to use always_bcc, then we get them to compare the costs and hassles of the always_bcc methodology vs. Zimbra's A&D, weighted by the exposure to Rules 24 and 36 that any homegrown solution will bring (yes, we do ask clients to consult their attorneys on this).

And then the decision becomes pretty self-evident--and puts the cost of Zimbra A&D mailboxes in their proper perspective.

Put differently, in the absence of regulatory requirements mandating particular A&D requirements, which archiving and discovery methodology really becomes a business insurance question, not a technology implementation question. As such, it's really up to the business owner/manager to decide "how much (backup) insurance" is appropriate to buy.

We see our job as educating the client to make that decision with better information; but it's not our decision to make.

Hope that helps,
Mark

Hope that helps,
Mark

[cdenley]

Thanks, that was very informative. What I really wanted, though, was a better understanding of the Archive & Discovery solution. It seems to me that you have to enable archiving on each individual account. Is there a global setting to archive all e-mail? Right now, the always_bcc option seems like a much easier solution than the Archive & Discovery one. Besides the per-user archive options, not having to worry about the always_bcc server going offline, and following some regulations and standards, are there any other benefits that I don't know about?

The cross mailbox search admin extension is part of the Archive & Discovery solution, correct? What if I want to use that admin extension without enabling archiving? Do I have to purchase the Archive & Discovery solution, and how many mailboxes would I pay for?

Also, I don't think my business is concerned with any federal regulations, but simply wants every single incoming/outgoing message to be available for ever (just in case).

[LMStone]

Originally Posted by cdenley

Thanks, that was very informative. What I really wanted, though, was a better understanding of the Archive & Discovery solution. It seems to me that you have to enable archiving on each individual account. Is there a global setting to archive all e-mail? Right now, the always_bcc option seems like a much easier solution than the Archive & Discovery one. Besides the per-user archive options, not having to worry about the always_bcc server going offline, and following some regulations and standards, are there any other benefits that I don't know about?

The cross mailbox search admin extension is part of the Archive & Discovery solution, correct? What if I want to use that admin extension without enabling archiving? Do I have to purchase the Archive & Discovery solution, and how many mailboxes would I pay for?

Also, I don't think my business is concerned with any federal regulations, but simply wants every single incoming/outgoing message to be available for ever (just in case).

The way Zimbra's A&D works is that each mailbox for which A&D is enable gets a "hidden" archive mailbox attached to it. All inbound/outbound emails to a regular mailbox gets copied to the corresponding A&D mailbox. This gives you the flexibility to enable A&D on some, but not all of your mailboxes, as using A&D does consume another license seat for each regular mailbox on which A&D is enabled. So, for companies that have a generic public mailbox like "Careers@mycompany.com", A&D can be very helpful.

These A&D mailboxes are not visible nor manipulatable except through the cross-mailbox search feature in the Admin Console, because as I understand it various rules of evidence require that the original evidence source not be tamperable.

The cross mailbox search is an Admin Console extension; it's found in /opt/zimbra/zimlets-network/, so I'm presuming you need to have the Network Edition to get the extension.

When you use the cross-mailbox search feature, the results of the search are dropped into a new mailbox (consuming yet another license), and then you can give whomever needs access to the results access credentials to that mailbox.

We recommend clients with their own Zimbra system deploy a low-cost dedicated Zimbra server with inexpensive SATA RAID10 arrays to store the A&D mailboxes. You can then backup that server however you like.

Is that what you were looking for?

All the best,
Mark