Mailstore Server can archive any number of emails for any number of users permanently and securely. However, to ensure consistently high access speeds and to simplify administrative tasks when dealing with large amounts of data, the following scaling strategies are recommended:

Setting Up MailStore User Accounts for Each Real User

For each user, MailStore Server sets up storage structures and indexes. It is therefore not advisable to archive the emails of multiple real users using a collective user account. Please see chapter User Management for more information.

Adding New Archive Stores Regularly

MailStore Server’s storage system is infinitely scalable and can store any amount of data. Emails are not stored in one single database which will eventually reach its limit of performance. Instead, the MailStore archive can be composed of individual archive units (archive stores), each having their own databases and search indexes. Any number of archive stores can be added by the administrator (or automatically according to a schedule) at runtime. By adding new archive stores regularly, a permanent scaling effect is achieved.

In practice, it has proven itself to add new archive stores once they contain more than 500,000 to 1,000,000 emails. That for MailStore Server automatically creates a archive stores at around 500.000 emails and activates it to immediately store newly archived emails in it. To users the archive always presents itself in its entirety, even when it is distributed among several different archive stores.

Information about creating and managing archive stores is available in the chapter Managing Storage Locations.

Simplification of Backups and Flexible Management of Storage Locations

Not only does creating new archive stores lead to consistently high access speeds, (as described above), it also simplifies backups significantly. Old archive stores can be write-protected; after they have been backed up once, they can be taken out of the regular backup procedure. These archive stores can then safely be kept on cost-efficient storage media.

Distributing the archive among multiple archive stores also makes managing storage locations flexible: Individual archive stores, for example, can be detached, moved to another storage medium and then be reattached at runtime.

Information about creating and managing archive stores is available in the chapter Managing Storage Locations.

Indexing File Attachments

Enter only those file types for which indexing is sensible: A specification that is too broad may negatively influence both searching and indexing performance. Please refer to the chapter Search Indexes for more information.