Getting a Handle on Email Storage

E-mail has become so ingrained in the way we do business that most people can't imagine working without it. However, for all its convenience, e-mail can also be a problem. As the daily barrage of messages passes back and forth, in-boxes get clogged, and before you know it, you're facing a storage problem. Luckily, there are many ways to solve that problem -- and not all of them involve spending thousands of dollars on technology. Here are some tips on finding the right solution for you.

Stop Problems Before They Start
To address the issue of e-mail storage, you must first determine how your employees manage their individual e-mail accounts. Are they hanging on to every message they receive because they're afraid to delete anything? If you don't have a formal records-retention policy that spells out how long messages should be kept before being discarded, it's time to create one. If you use a commercial e-mail program, such as Microsoft Exchange, you can set it to automatically delete all e-mail older than a certain time period -- for example, 30, 60 or 90 days -- to guarantee compliance. (Employees can protect important messages from deletion by moving them out of the main mailbox and into personal, or .pst, folders.)

Another way to ease e-mail storage is by using filters to manage mail. With these tools, employees can filter incoming messages by type -- for example, bulk mail can be sent directly to a folder for automatic deletion, or messages from a particular address can be flagged for immediate follow-up. When combined with automated cleanup, this will immediately take your company a long way toward solving e-mail storage problems. If important messages are dealt with quickly and unimportant messages are filtered out and deleted, there will be much less clutter sitting around in your employees' in-boxes and clogging up your e-mail server. You'll also get the added benefit of increased efficiency and better customer service.

Store on a Small Scale
Even if your employees are filtering and purging their e-mail regularly, they may still find they need extra space to save messages for business reasons. The problem can often be handled simply and cost-effectively by instructing employees to archive e-mails in .pst files on CD or DVD media. It's possible to store a great deal of data this way, and all you'll need to invest in is a supply of discs, along with a few external CD or DVD burners if your employees' computers don't have them built in.

Bring Out the Big Guns
So you've done everything you can to maximize your current storage, and you're still coming up short? In this case, it may be time to consider purchasing a full-fledged storage system. (This is also your best bet if you are required to save copies of e-mail communications for legal reasons, as many companies in the financial, legal and healthcare industries are.)

It's a big investment, but don't panic -- options are available to ensure that you get the right solution for your business. If you only need to move e-mail off your main server to free up space, you can install a software program that creates a "stub file" -- a marker that points to the actual e-mail -- for each archived message. Clicking on the stub file calls the message up from storage, which may be a separate server or an online storage system.

If you're subject to information-storage regulations, your situation is a bit different. In this case, you must save an actual second copy of each affected message in a read-only format that prevents it from being altered. You also must have the ability to create an audit trail that shows where the message was forwarded, who received it, and how they responded. Finally, you must store the message in a way that allows you or your employees to quickly retrieve it if necessary.

To meet all these requirements, you'll need a true database software solution that supports indexing and content searches, as well as a dedicated server with a reliable backup system. While many businesses rely on tape media for backup, it's not the best choice for archiving e-mail: if a regulatory agency suddenly requests copies of communications relating to a particular topic, you won't have time to hunt through endless tapes in search of a particular e-mail. Instead, consider a disk-based archive system, which combines many hard disks to provide fast backup and retrieval; a network-attached storage system; or a storage area network (a separate network dedicated specifically to data storage).

Whatever your e-mail storage issues may be, we're ready and willing to help you overcome them. As a VentureTech Network solution provider, we have access to the latest hardware and software products and the technical expertise to turn them into the right solution for you. Contact us at any time to schedule a consultation.

Need A Network House Call?

On-Site Check-Ups Prevent Problems
The reason most of us have regular physicals is simple: If we catch ailments while they are minor, we reduce the risk of expensive emergency treatment later on. This same concept applies to network maintenance. A monthly on-site checkup is a proactive way to protect your network and avoid costly emergency repairs. Here's how it works: Every month, a network technician visits your business to perform a variety of services designed to keep your network in good health. He leaves behind a finely tuned system, plus a document that summarizes the services he performed. These might include:

Server Maintenance | The technician ensures servers are running the latest service packs and security updates. Even if your software program automatically checks for updates, details may have been overlooked, like rebooting the system to make the patches take effect. In other cases, your server's antivirus or anti-spyware software may have stopped downloading updates, or it wasn't instructed to apply those updates to a new employee's workstation. The technician can help prevent these errors.

Firewall Updates | To guard against hackers' ongoing efforts, manufacturers regularly release new antivirus codes for their firewalls. The technician will update your firewall's operating system and all antivirus signature files.

Check Back-Up Integrity | You may try to manage backups on your own but inadvertently overlook critical steps. For example, it's easy for your employee to replace the tape and go back to work, unaware that the backup failed because of a corrupted file or a full tape. Not only does the visiting technician make sure your tapes have adequate storage space, he will regularly clean your tape drives and create new emergency repair disks.

Monitor Server Use | If you're like many SMBs, you don''t have the IT staff required to track the increasing amount of data stored on your network. Working with you on-site, the technician helps identify unnecessary files or applications, deletes them without harming your applications and monitors your employees' use of their storage allotments.

What About Remote Network Monitoring?
Another great way to take the pulse of your network is through remote network monitoring -- our ability to dial into your network and run software that tracks your network resources from afar.

However, companies with little or no IT staff often gain more value from on-site visits than from remote network monitoring alone. That's because remote monitoring can identify issues, but can't fix physical problems at your site -- such as a UPS that is no longer charging because of a low battery or the need to add a new user.

Maintenance Makes Sense
Just like paying a monthly fee for health insurance, on-site network maintenance makes good financial sense. Considering that emergency repairs often require overtime labor, priority rates for replacement parts and other fees, you could spend as much during one network crisis as you would for an entire year of monthly maintenance visits. In addition, a major network breakdown costs you in the form of lost profits and potential liability for any breach of your data's security.

Personal Service Pays Off
Regular visits from an on-site technician will help us learn the nuances of your business. When you're ready to upgrade your network, this first-hand knowledge can help us recommend the solutions that fit you best.

We can also recommend just the right combination of managed services. You may need a package that includes remote network monitoring and on-site maintenance. Or you may only require on-site maintenance, plus some additional security consulting.

Regardless of the exact services you need, we can help you keep an eye on small problems -- before they become large ones. Call us today.

Taking the Risk Out of Managing Your Network

Ever heard a small-business owner say "if it ain't broke, don't fix it"? This simple old saying depicts the mentality of thousands of SMBs when it comes to preventing security breaches and assessing vulnerabilities within their networks.

If the servers are running, e-mails are accessible and customers aren't complaining about identity theft -- companies logically assume that their security measures, however informal, are working. This false sense of security is exactly what hackers and identity thieves prey on.

The truth of the matter is that networks of all sizes are vulnerable to attacks and security threats 24/7/365. Spyware, worms and viruses don't discriminate. If there is a way into your network, they will find it and you may, or may not, know about it. Although the short-term impact to your business is obvious, the long-term impact is what really keeps us up at night.

Security breaches and other malicious attacks not only take down the network and compromise your company's data and your customers' privacy, they can ruin your company's reputation. With competition around every corner, and new laws mandating the disclosure of data theft to affected consumers, news like this travels fast. So what should you do?

Depending on the level of IT support you have on hand, you may try to safeguard your network by deploying highly publicized software upgrades and security patches. If you have a bit more technical sophistication, you may even install a firewall to protect drive-by prowlers and wireless network spies. That's good, but it is not good enough. You must take comprehensive steps to proactively manage your network day-in and day-out. Especially when it comes to managing security risks and network vulnerabilities.

The number of cyberattacks launched each day on businesses just like yours is staggering. That is why it comes as no surprise that reducing network security risks and managing vulnerabilities is fast becoming the leading concern for today's business owners and IT administrators. For example, did you know when a manufacturer issues a patch or upgrade to an existing software, the "new code" they just released is likely to be hacked or compromised and another point of entry established within one hour. It's a scary statistic, but with the bad news, comes good news. And there is good news.

Experts say that nearly 99 percent of all security intrusions are the result of known vulnerabilities and configuration errors within a network's software applications. That means 99 percent of today's network security breaches are preventable. How is that possible? Through vulnerability management.

True vulnerability management is not about one-time software patches or hardware upgrades. It is an outsourced security service that automatically monitors, manages and protects your network 24/7. As a provider of this service, we can proactively identify, report and, in many cases, eliminate threats before they happen, helping businesses just like yours maintain a secure and productive network. Here's how we do it:

We take a close look at your network. We call this a vulnerability assessment. This comprehensive health check will allow us to:

Once we assess the situation and agree with you on the right vulnerability management solution, we move to automate your security service.

We begin monitoring your network's security. This includes updating your security tools as needed. This no-hassle service can be done remotely from our offices. Vulnerability management is a virtual lifeline that automatically feeds the industry's latest patches, upgrades and security solutions directly into your network.

We provide regular reports to you. These include follow-up assessments and activity reports. These data sheets provide us with real-time information about the health of your network and tell us where to focus our security efforts now and in the future.

You get results: Organizations that adopt vulnerability management as a security practice are likely to experience 90 percent fewer attacks on their network.

So what are you waiting for? Take the headache of managing your network's security off your to-do list. Call us today.