You can also set these limits for all mailboxes in a private IS. In Exchange Administrator, expand the server and select the IS you want to modify. Right-click the IS, and select Properties. You set limits on the General tab. Individually imposed mailbox size limits override these IS-wide limits.
You can apply limits to several Exchange Server 5.5 mailboxes at once without applying limits to the entire IS. Simply generate an export file, edit it to contain only the mailboxes you want to limit, and add the appropriate limit to the .csv file (both in the header and in each record for which you want to apply the limit). Reimport the file, and presto!—you're finished. (For more information about the proper use of directory import and export, see "Super Export and Import Tools," August 2000.)
To customize the intervals at which System Attendant scans mailbox sizes and sends warnings, open Exchange Administrator and the Information Store Site Configuration object's Properties page, and click the Storage Warnings tab. The default interval is once a day, but you can select the time of day or select Always for Exchange Server to check limits approximately every 15 minutes.
In Exchange 2000, you can apply limits to individual mailboxes, to a mailbox store (the equivalent of Exchange Server 5.5's IS), or to all mailbox stores in an SG. Individual mailbox limits take precedence over mailbox store limits, which in turn take precedence over SG limits. You can also use Exchange Server system policies (not to be confused with Windows 2000 group policies or Windows NT system policies) to apply limits to all mailbox stores on a particular server. For the lowdown on how to create and manage Exchange Server system policies, see the Microsoft article "XADM: How to Create System Policies in Exchange 2000" (http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q256/1/41.asp). For more information about limiting mailbox size, see Tony Redmond, "Mailbox Management," October 2000.
Watching Email Go By
Most Exchange Server administrators also dread the day when management asks—or requires—them to read someone else's email. Ethical concerns aside, if you open another person's mailbox without written direction from a company officer, you're being foolish. Better yet, rather than read someone's email on a manager's behalf, enable the manager to do the deed directly.
Granting management read-access to a suspect mailbox is easy to do but difficult to do discreetly. Another option is to turn on Message Journaling. Exchange Server 5.5 Service Pack 1 (SP1) first introduced this feature, which lets you copy a server, site, or organization's inbound and outbound email traffic and send it to a mailbox or public folder. Message Journaling copies all traffic (excluding SMTP messages from POP3 or IMAP4 clients). You can enforce a rule to throw away any email not to or from the suspect, or you can surreptitiously move the user in question to another email server (some sites keep around an old server for exactly this purpose). Turning on Message Journaling is straightforward: You need to add a few registry keys to the IS, Internet Mail Service (IMS), and Message Transfer Agent (MTA). The Microsoft article "XADM: How to Enable Message Journaling in Exchange Server 5.5" (http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q239/4/27.asp) describes the process.
Surprise! Exchange 2000 uses a different name for Message Journaling: message archiving. You use message archiving to control an SG's individual databases. Simply open Exchange System Manager (ESM), select the mailbox store for which you want to enable message archiving, right-click the database, and select Properties. From the General tab, which Figure 2 shows, select the Archive all messages sent or received by mailboxes on this store check box. Click Browse, and select the contact, mailbox, or folder that you want to receive these messages.
Message Journaling and message archiving can also be useful to administrators who need to formally archive email traffic for the long term. For more information about archiving techniques, see "Managing Messages," June 2001.
Unavoidable Chores
No one—well, hardly anyone—likes managing messages. Most administrators see message management as akin to making children clean their bedrooms. Often, implementing message management hurts you more than it hurts your users. But the task must be done, and a little painful but proactive attention to your mailboxes might postpone the need to add another dreaded task—buying more Exchange Server storage—to your to-do list.
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Scott November 19, 2003