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Technical Session: How to Implement Fortis Email Management. Guest Speakers. Sherpa Software Bal Srinivasan, Product Manager Westbrook Technologies Brad Harbin, Consulting Engineer. What is Fortis Email Management?.
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Guest Speakers Sherpa Software Bal Srinivasan, Product Manager Westbrook Technologies Brad Harbin, Consulting Engineer
What is Fortis Email Management? • “Best-of-breed” solution powered by Sherpa Software’s Archive and Mail Attender products • Fortis Email Management consists of a server-side Microsoft Exchange level archiving tool • Also supports eDiscovery, email manipulation, logic and quota management • Does not sit on the Exchange server • Provides back-end, transparent archiving of Exchange email accounts to Fortis or other UNC paths • All Exchange messages are stored as MSG in Fortis • All archived MSG files can be launched back to MSG • Fortis never changes the original file format • Data about the email can be exported to XML or ASCII • Attachments are stored in their native format
The Solution What are the components of Fortis Email Management solution? Session specific to Exchange • Sherpa Software Archive Attender • Sherpa Software Mail Attender • Custom Sherpa code to output MSG and XML to nested file system directory by GUID • Custom Fortis profile configurator • Windows polling service • Fortis Portal or Fortis Web
Easy Retrieval from Fortis Select the “Archived Emails” Outlook folder • Fortis Portal • Fortis Web
How Simple is it to Retrieve the Email from the Fortis Archive? 4. Select the URL on the email stub Requires: Fortis Web or Portal
Architecture • Topology • Archive Attender is a completely server-based application; no deployment to end-user machines • Comprised of 3 components a Windows service, a console application and a web application driven by a web service • Data is archived to any network-accessible storage device • Whats it written in? • Product is written primarily in VB.Net with some core C++ APIs. The web application and web service are written in ASP.Net. • How are configuration settings stored • Configuration settings are saved in XML format on the computer where Archive Attender is installed. • How does the solution communicate with Exchange? • MAPI is the API Microsoft provides to access Exchange data. Archive Attender uses this API (Outlook also uses MAPI) to connect to and access the mailboxes.
Exchange Journaling Option • How does Exchange journal option work • What message items can journals be applied to • How do we treat journaled items • Does it double the size of the info store
Part #1 - SPECIFICATIONS • Windows 2000, XP and 2003 • Dot Net Framework 2.0 (installed automatically as needed) • Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher • Outlook 98, 2000, XP, 2003, 2007 or Exchange Server • Approx. 35MB footprint on installation • Allocate additional space for the growth of the database • MSMQ (if synchronizing with Mail Attender)
Part #1 - ARCHITECTURE • Works with Exchange 5.5, 2000, 2003 and 2007 • Installation not required on the Exchange server • Works with Outlook 98 or higher • Indices maintained in XML format
Part #2 - Archive Attender for Exchange Service • Windows service that monitors the system for actions commanded from the Archive Attender console • Full local administration permissions - granted for the Archive Attender computer (to access the registry and all necessary data); • Archive Locations – full administrative access to the location where the archived data is stored; • Domain permissions – the account must at least be a domain user, and it must have read/modify access to the Exchange server mailboxes from which it is to archive and write stubs. • Note that if this account is a domain administrator, by default, this account will *not* have read/modify access to the Exchange server mailboxes. This must be set up manually. Please see Microsoft Knowledgebase Articles ID 821897 for Exchange 2003 and ID 262054 for Exchange 2000.
Part #3 - Archive Attender aaWebService IIS Component • Web service component that handles the client requests such as a search of the archives and message retrieval, generated by the end-user. • Local administration permissions - granted for the Archive Attender computer (to access the registry and all necessary data) • Archive Locations – full administrative access to the location where the archived data is stored • Domain permissions –the account must at least be a domain user, and it must have read/modify access to the Exchange server mailboxes from which it is to archive and write stubs. Note that if this account is a domain administrator, by default, this account will *not* have read/modify access to the Exchange server mailboxes. This must be set up manually. Please see Microsoft Knowledgebase Articles ID 821897 for Exchange 2003 and ID 262054 for Exchange 2000
Part #4 - Outlook Console aaWeb IIS Component • This is the client component that provides an interface for the end users to search and retrieve archived messages. • It communicates with the Archive Attender web service to display the appropriate information to the end users. • It is installed with the Outlook Console component of the Archive Attender installation. • Note that this component may be installed on the Archive Attender console machine, or it may be installed on the OWA front end service, contingent upon your organization’s needs. • The user account attached to this service must have: • Local administration permissions - granted for the computer where on which it is installed (to access the registry and all necessary data).
Part #5 – Archive Attender Output • Standard Outlook MSG output format of email and attachments • Output of email header data as XML • Drop to network directory in unzipped format
Part #6 – Archive Policy Setup • General • Condition vs quota • Mailbox, journaling and public folders • Scheduling • Message types
Part #7 – Archive Policy Setup • Folders to monitor • Stub setup • Conditions
Part #8 – Quota Policy Setup • Quota types • Quota limits • Quota priority
Archive Attender vs Fortis Email Management • Archive Attender • Store on file system as ZIP • Web search capability via ASP.Net • Fortis Email Management • Require Fortis • Search via web thru Fortis Web or Portal
Architecture • Composed of two parts: • Fortis Email Management Windows Service • Fortis Email Management Configuration Utility • Configuration Utility is used to link Archive Attender output to document types in Fortis. • Driven by the Fortis Email Management Windows Service. • Exceptions – Logged in Event Viewer • Validation routines – If the import fails the .msg and XML file will be moved into an “Error” directory for administration and processing manually
Fortis Email Manager Requirements • .Net Framework 2.0 • Outlook • Permissions Fortis User • Fortis User must have Modify\Write\Add permissions to configured Databases, Document Types, Folders, Fields in Fortis • Permissions required for service • Service must run as a domain user with full access to the Archive Attender Archive Path
Part #1 – Fortis Configuration Utility • Configures polling time to export • Configures temp backup directory for archived .msg’s • Configures level of logging for service application • Associates email accounts with Fortis Document Types
Part #1 – Fortis Configuration Utility • Associates XML data from Archive Attender to fields in a Fortis Document • Ability to exclude certain email accounts from being imported into Fortis • “Catch-all” to associate multiple email accounts to a Fortis Document Type. • Uses GUID and Directory Structure to link emails to Archive Attender
Part #2 – Fortis Windows Service • Uses settings from the Configuration Utility • Polls the Archive directory • Looks for matching pairs of GUID’s with .XML and .MSG extensions • Imports email into Fortis based on directory location and Configuration Settings • Logs Errors • Logs Status • Performs Cleanup (or backup) of .msg and XML files
Part #2.1 – Fortis Windows Service • Service Configuration
Part #2.2 – Fortis Windows Service • Error Logging
Part #3 – Things to Know Before going “live” and archiving everything… • Create a Profile in Archive Attender that: • Associated with a single test folder in Outlook • Does not “Stub” the email • Configure Fortis Configuration Utility to the test folder • Verify that the email was imported into Fortis correctly • Check Event Viewer “FortisEmailManager” for initial errors Stubbing
Lets perform a simple installation of Fortis Email Management
For pricing or more information: Jonathan Langdon-Phillips Director of Professional Services Tel: 203-483-6666 ext. 623 E-mail: jlangdon@westbrooktech.com