Sharpeware

SPACEWatch^tm for Exchange.

When PST files get spread around your network its easy to loose any control of what's going on with Exchange mail and file attachments. If you can find PSTs you probably have trouble manually trying to analyze their contents. With SPACEWatch for Exchange you can take the pain out of managing your PSTs and get back in control - wherever they are.

This Best Practice guide summarizes some of the ways you can do this with SPACEWatch for Exchange. It is assumed that the reader is already familiar with basic SPACEWatch for Exchange operation.

This best practice guide will describe how you can:

• Implement "quick win" solutions to immediately free up storage
• Find the "hot spots" in your PST files
• Work on the detail of unused and unwanted files including duplicates stored in your PST files.

Note - all examples use SPACEWatch for Exchange v5.7. You do not need to install SPACEWatch on your file servers, remote PCs, SANs etc. to collect PST data.


A good place to start is with the easiest targets - the largest PST files. You can find these very easily from the Directory Finder and File Finder respectively. Follow these steps:

Largest PST Files

FindMailboxes & Folders (Directory Finder will load) AnalyzeExchangeLargest Mailboxes

In this example various PST backup files have been found - no doubt created by users carrying out their own email archiving. Double clicking on any folder will drill down to the File Finder and list the contents of the folder - whether files are attached to messages or not. You can then run off reports etc. to share these results with others.

Alternatively you can expand a PST file and see its contents, folder by folder, to narrow down your analysis:

Largest files

FindFiles & Messages (File Finder will load) AnalyzeLargest

In this example we are displaying both messages and file attachments.


Next you may want to find where most space is being consumed across your network - if you have lots of PST files you probably aren't interested in those that have few or no files stored in them. To focus on the hot spot areas you can use the Tree Summary. This shows the rolled up total space consumed at each level in the PST and PST folder structure - but more significantly, color-codes these so you can instantly investigate the major areas.

Tree summary

DataSummary (Tree Summary will load) Filter settings

In this example the filter setting was 0.2% - this means trees that contains less than 0.2% of total space are not shown. That way you can quickly see the hot spots without all the noise. If you want to see less/more detail change the Filter setting and click Refresh. Notice the "freshness" column - this shows you the most recent date that and files or message were created in that tree, letting you instantly focus on old data - as well as the largest consumers of storage.

At the bottom of the Tree Summary you'll see a "Virtual Folders" tree. These folders are dynamic - when you open them their contents will be instantly updated to reflect your criteria. For example you can create Virtual Folders in the File Finder to show unwanted files (e.g. MP3) or old files (e.g. created more than 2 years ago). You can then use these Virtual Folders in automated reports - or file actions like archiving or deletion.

Double click any folder and you will see more detail in the Directory Finder. Double click a folder in the Directory Finder and you will see all the files in that folder listed - whether they are file objects or attached to messages.

Alternatively you may want to identify the top noncompliant file types - wherever they are stored in any of your PST files. For example, you may have large mp3 audio files that can easily be removed. You use the Types Summary for this analysis.

Types summary

DataSummaryTypes (Types Summary will be displayed) HighlightsAudio Files (All files defined as type audio will be highlighted)

The example above shows the types summary sorted by total space - in this set of PST files it is bitmap picture files that take up most space. To see all files of one variety - e.g. audio files - you can highlight these (you can define your own sets of highlight files by the way). If you want a quick summary of your highlighted file sets, click on the Charts button and choose Highlights.

Types summary

DataSummaryTypes (Types Summary will be displayed) ChartsHighlights

Once you have cleaned up the obvious hot spots you will probably want to spend more time on the detail - looking more closely at unwanted or old files - or duplication across your PST files (or within a PST file). With the Find Duplicates tool you can find duplicated files wherever they are - and also duplicated folders.

Find Duplicates

FindDuplicates (the Find Duplicates window will be displayed) Names/SizeSearch (duplicate sets of files will be listed) ViewDuplicates by Folder (see duplicate files by the folders they are contained in)

One of the more interesting ways you can search for duplication is by listing folders that are similar - by which we mean folders that have duplicated files in common. Clearly folders will vary in how similar they are depending on the quantity of duplicated files they have in common.


In the example above there are some PST files that have large amounts of files in common - in fact such a high degree of similarity that it might be worth investigating whether the whole PST file can be removed. Expanding the PST file in this analysis will list all the duplicate files that are in common.

Find old files

FindFiles & Messages (File Finder will load) Date SearchFiles created, earlier than the last 6 monthsSearch (old files will be listed)

With the File Finder you can construct quite complex queries then run them with usually almost instant results - however large your Exchange infrastructure. For example you could narrow down the "old files" list to those old files larger than 1MB - simply add the constraint ">1M" to the Size box and repeat the search.

Or you might want to limit the search to just a particular PST file - or even a particular folder or folder tree within a PST - choose the "Look in" option then browse to the tree you want to limit the search to.

Limit your search to files larger than 1MB

Limit your search to a particular PST File

Clearly SPACEWatch for Exchange is an ideal tool to help you get back in control of your PST Files - wherever they're being stored. With its highly interactive architecture you can quickly "dive in" and find out what is causing your issues; where to start first in sorting them out; and which data you can usefully share with users to help them in your objectives. If you have any further questions about managing PST files please contact Sharpeware and we will be happy to discuss your issues further.