Why is my client PC synchronizing with Exchange 2007? 1

[EssoOil]

Hi, I have a question about why one PC with Outlook 2002 on appears to be storing all emails on the Exchange Server and communicating directly with the Exchange Server while another PC with Office Outlook 2007 on is synchronizing with my Exchange Server and also storing all emails locally on the C drive.


My setup

I have two test PC's connected to my SBS 2008 running Exchange Server 2007.

PC1: After a clean install of XP I connected this PC to my SBS 2008 server. Everything works fine. I installed Outlook 2002 and entered the name of my exchange server. Emails are working fine. In this example I think all emails are only being stored on the Exchange Server and not locally on the hard disk i.e. this PC communicates directly with the Exchange Server for sending / receiving / viewing emails.

PC2: This PC already had Office 2007 on and Outlook 2007. It used to be a stand-alone email machine using POP3 with no Exchange Server. I used the mail option in the Control Panel to connect it to my exchange server. I entered the name of my Exchange server and again, all my emails are working fine.

However, on PC2 my emails are also being stored on my C drive in the usual folder where Outlook stores its PST file. Every so often Outlook 2007 says "synchronizing with Exchange Server" and emails are updated on the client PC.

This is working fine but I'm trying to find out more about how / why this PC synchronizes with my Exchange Server instead of everything being stored only on the Exchange Server like it is for PC1.

Does synchronizing have any advantages? What happens if a member of staff with 4Gb of emails on their PC logs onto a different PC on the network? Will all their 4Gb of emails be transferred (synchronized) from the Exchange Server onto their PC? In the case of PC1 a user can use any PC without this problem if they are communicating directly with the Exchange Server.

Is there a simple way of getting Outlook 2007 to NOT synchronize and just store everything on the Exchange Server? Is this the best way?

I'm just trying to learn about what the benefits of synchronization are compared to the way I thought it would work which is to store all emails on the Exchange Server and for each PC to communicates directly with the Exchange Server for sending / receiving / viewing emails.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[58sniper]

The emails are still on the Exchange server. Outlook 2007 is caching them for faster access, and less workload on the Exchange server.

The mails are stored in a .ost file, not a .pst file.

This is the preferred method of configuration for Exchange.

Pat Richard MVP
Plan for performance, and capacity takes care of itself. Plan for capacity, and suffer poor performance.

http://www.ucblogs.net/blogs/exchange/

 

[EssoOil]

Thanks 58sniper, a good explanation.

So, if a user has 4Gb of emails the .ost file at C:\Documents and Settings\user\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook wont be 4Gb.

Also, what would happen if this user logged on to another PC on the network e.g. how much data will be transferred from the Exchange Server to their local profile on the C drive?

I'm glad its the preferred method of configuration but knowling the above would be useful.

Many thanks.

 

[58sniper]

The .ost file will be similar in size to the mailbox. If the user goes to another machine, and Outlook is running in cached mode, it will build another .ost file on that machine containing all of the mail (just like the first machine).

Pat Richard MVP
Plan for performance, and capacity takes care of itself. Plan for capacity, and suffer poor performance.

http://www.ucblogs.net/blogs/exchange/

 

[GrimR]

BTW you can still have a pst file on the client's local machine as the default. Just goto OL2007 Tools -> Account Settings -> Data Files add a pst and set it as default.
I do this for a number of Laptop users who forget to clean thier mailboxses before they go out to clients for weeks at a time.
Note: they will then need to backup this pst file if the drive fails their mail will be gone.

Is there a simple way of getting Outlook 2007 to NOT synchronize and just store everything on the Exchange Server? Is this the best way?

As long as you backup the server.

MCITP:EA/SA, MCSE, MCSA, MCDBA, MCTS, MCP+I, MCP