Clever caching appliances
A new crop of caching appliances from Accellion and Intradyn can also help you manage the large-attachment problem. These boxes typically plug into the network (in the demilitarized zone) with little configuration and don't require much ongoing maintenance. They store large attachments and automatically delete them at the times you specify.
When a user sends a message with a large attachment, the caching appliance automatically strips out the attachment and stores it. The e-mail recipient gets a message, as usual, but with a clickable link that allows download of the file. So the Accellion device means much smaller messages -- for example, at 10K or 12KB, instead of 10MB. The box occupies no space on the company's mail server. And when the mail server crashes, there's less to restore.
Restore and regular back-up times will go down, says Millward, who solved his company's attachment dilemma by installing two Accellion Courier File Transfer Appliances in 2005. One device resides in the company's England location and one in the US. "We've had no crashes of the mail server since installing the Accellion appliance." He says. "Back-up times are smaller."
After a straightforward configuration by in-house IT staff, Millward set the boxes supporting 4500 employees to autodelete the large files after eight days. This automation is one of the main reasons Millward chose the Accellion product. It also integrates with existing Lightweight Directory Access Protocol e-mail system, so users' regular e-mail accounts and logons provide access to the Accellion box, he says. Millward spent $15,000 to $20,000 on the boxes.
As for maintenance, "It's virtually hands-off," he says, noting only a few software tweaks have been required, and Accellion did them remotely. The company is in the process of migrating to Exchange 2003 and has an eye on e-mail archiving software. The company's headquarters site will soon begin a CommVault pilot program for 500 users.
How do you know when a caching appliance is the right answer? If you deal with large attachments and don't need to keep them forever, a caching appliance is a plug-and-play solution. If you do need to retain, organize and search the e-mails, you'll want to use the caching appliance in concert with e-mail archiving software.
Accellion boxes cost $5000 and up, depending on processing memory and hard drive options. An enterprise version is designed specifically for multiple-site installs; replication capability allows multiple offices to have access to the same data on all the appliances. Millward went with the regular version. When examining the cost of any caching product, consider whether you'll also need to budget time and money for consulting or integration work.
The more attachments your company sends, the more value you will net from a caching appliance. For example, graphic design, architecture and engineering companies that deal with huge attachments day in and day out will see plenty of bang for the buck, Osterman says. "You're going to get a fairly significant value in a company like that. You have a parallel infrastructure."