I don't see file system storage access for companies very often anymore. Oh sure, the IT dept works in the CLI or Explorer, but the user base doesn't. Why have users wandering through Windows Explorer? It tends to be a content management system of some sort distributed through some database mechanism. In a small scale, Exchange can take care of that. Not as an Enterprise solution, but for users to keep some files they need and possibly share in their mailboxes or public folders. SharePoint is the preferred Microsoft solution of course.
>> My biggest dig is that if you email a file Where did you get the file? The file system? Referencing your numbered list... 1) The user can create copies of a file pulled from a file system also. 2) You only control the security of first access in a file system as well, with the user able to email, ftp, http, or otherwise send that file elsewhere. (Rights Management works in e-mail and the file system though) 3) File storage is easier in a file system when it is easier. If accessing by Outlook Anywhere from an external location, the file system on a server or office workstation is pretty much useless (without OWA or ActiveSync for file access). 4) You can give someone free reign of a file system and you can give them free reign of a mailbox. Sometimes more granular is not best, based on your KISS reference. Also based on KISS, Outlook is my portal and PIM. One tool. I have remote clients. Exchange works just fine for file storage. By the way, I agree with everything you said, except the absoluteness of its presentation. -----Original Message----- From: John Cook [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Thursday, May 07, 2009 6:47 AM To: MS-Exchange Admin Issues Subject: RE: Exchange archiving My biggest dig is that if you email a file you 1.) create copies (and yes you can use deduplication to a certain extent to manage this but that's an added cost both in money and time) 2.) you lose security - if a file is in a permissions secured directory you know who has access and who HAS accessed it (with the proper logging in place) but with email you only know the next stop, no idea who gets access after that 3.) file storage is much easier (IMO) to manage (cut and paste older directories/folders to external storage) than archived messages and 4.) access to file storage is much more granular than giving someone free reign of a mailbox to search for that one file. Wearing 8 different hats in one org requires I live by the KISS principal and the better I manage this slippery slope the better I can do my job. YMMV John W. Cook Systems Administrator Partnership For Strong Families 315 SE 2nd Ave Gainesville, Fl 32601 Office (352) 393-2741 x320 Cell (352) 215-6944 Fax (352) 393-2746 MCSE, MCTS, MCP+I, A+, N+, VSP -----Original Message----- From: Maglinger, Paul [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Thursday, May 07, 2009 8:45 AM To: MS-Exchange Admin Issues Subject: RE: Exchange archiving That's not true. I will help them store files in a way for the business to understand, but using the hardware and the software that was designed for that purpose. -----Original Message----- From: James Wells [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Thursday, May 07, 2009 7:34 AM To: MS-Exchange Admin Issues Subject: Re: Exchange archiving All true..though not completely honest comparisons. If there's a business requirement, size the solution and tell the business how much it costs. Simply telling people "I know you spent thousands/millions, but I won't help you store files in a way that's easy for the business to understand" doesn't get you very far. --James On 5/7/09, Maglinger, Paul <[email protected]> wrote: >> Ultimately, computers should be a tool that serves the needs of >> people. Telling people not to use email they way they *want* to use >> email is not an ideal situation. Sometimes one has to adapt to the >> limitation of a system, but when possible, it's better to adapt the >> system to better do the job. > > Okay... I want to use my car to go 85 mph down the highway, but I have > people telling me not to use it that way. I want to use my screwdriver > as a > pry bar, but there are people telling me not to use it that way. There > are > people who want to use their computer to download pirated music and > movies from > the internet, but there are people telling them not to use it that way. > There > are people who want to connect various USB devices to the company > computers, but > there are people telling them not to use it that way. There are people > who want > to use their computer to go to YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, etc., but > there are > people telling them not to use it that way. There are people who would > like to > use their computer to hack into corporate businesses, but... > > -----Original Message----- > From: Ben Scott [mailto:[email protected]] > Sent: Wednesday, May 06, 2009 6:29 PM > To: MS-Exchange Admin Issues > Subject: Re: Exchange archiving > > On Wed, May 6, 2009 at 2:11 PM, John Cook <[email protected]> wrote: >>> But why isn't an e-mail system a file transfer and storage system? >> >> Because it's a database app with performance limits as opposed to a > file >> server. > > [This message is somewhat vague theory, somewhat devil's advocate, > and somewhat philosophy, but I think this is a discussion worth > having.] > > Fundamentally, and from a high level, a database and a filesystem > are not all that dissimilar. Indeed, in a lot of the historical > literature I've read from the 1940s and 1950s, there isn't a clear > distinction between the two. That idea came later. > > It's not like a filesystem doesn't magically not have performance > lists. Do a directory of a folder with tens of thousands of files in > it sometime. Slow. > > Databases and filesystems generally have different optimization > goals and feature sets, of course. And that's some of the reason why > trying to move large files out of Exchange is a good idea. ESE > doesn't do well at that, and NTFS does. But there's more to it than > that. > > As many have said, having more than a few thousand items in a single > folder slows Outlook and Exchange way down. See above about large > NTFS directories. Both are slow, so going to NTFS simple moves the > problem around. > > One could point to the performance wins that fixed sized records > give you in a contiguous file, and that's a reason why databases are > good at that. But ESE (Exchange^W Extensible Storage Engine) doesn't > use that model, as far as I know. > > More importantly, I would argue that a mail system has more in > common with a filesystem than a traditional database anyway. Message > body lengths vary hugely. That's more like files than fixed-length > records. > > Ultimately, computers should be a tool that serves the needs of > people. Telling people not to use email they way they *want* to use > email is not an ideal situation. Sometimes one has to adapt to the > limitation of a system, but when possible, it's better to adapt the > system to better do the job. > > -- Ben > > ~ Ninja Email Security with Cloudmark Spam Engine Gets Image Spam ~ > ~ http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Ninja ~ > > ~ Ninja Email Security with Cloudmark Spam Engine Gets Image Spam ~ > ~ http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Ninja ~ > > -- Sent from my mobile device ~ Ninja Email Security with Cloudmark Spam Engine Gets Image Spam ~ ~ http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Ninja ~ ~ Ninja Email Security with Cloudmark Spam Engine Gets Image Spam ~ ~ http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Ninja ~ CONFIDENTIALITY STATEMENT: The information transmitted, or contained or attached to or with this Notice is intended only for the person or entity to which it is addressed and may contain Protected Health Information (PHI), confidential and/or privileged material. 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