DataCove Models

How many users do you have?

Active, inactive, and low potency users (students, part time employees, interns, users who do not often need to send email) should all be counted accordingly, with active users and low potency users being used as the measuring stick. Low potency users can be safely counted at approximately half of that of an active user when determining total number of users for archival.

What does the future look like for growth?

Are there plans for new acquisitions in the future, or is there a general upswing in hiring or users that must be maintained? Or are things fairly static and not many changes of any significance take place? If there is the potential for any user growth over approximately 50-150 users worth, it is advisable to discuss this with your sales representative to determine if a larger size system is needed.

Is there any initial data you'd like to import?

One of the biggest factors that goes unconsidered is the desire to import historical data from the existing mail system, user stored archives (.PST files and the like), or data from an existing email archiver that is being succeeded by DataCove.

Since the nature of storage and compression of this data varies widely, the amount of data to be imported from these sources should be counted as 100% of their existing value. So, that 500GB of data to import from Exchange should be seen as consuming 500GB of space from your DataCove right off the bat.

How many users do you have?

Active, inactive, and low potency users (students, part time employees, interns, users who do not often need to send email) should all be counted accordingly, with active users and low potency users being used as the measuring stick. Low potency users can be safely counted at approximately half of that of an active user when determining total number of users for archival.

What are the plans for your retention policy?

If a retention policy has been designed for your organization or you are familiar with the regulations that need to be adhered to, use that policy to determine how long email must be held for, and add approximately 10-15% more space on top to handle any emails that need to be held for e-Discovery purposes, as that can skew capacity numbers.

If a policy has not been decided on, this becomes a bit more fluid, and we'd recommend reviewing our Regulatory Advisories page for pointers on how to select a policy right for you. Tangent can also help with figuring out a 'safe bet' policy if this situation is up in the air still.

What type of organization are you?

The vast majority of organizations can use the suggestions above on sizing a system, but special mention goes out to a handful of organizational types who tend to break the mold, as it were.

Financial institutions (banks, real estate firms, brokerages, etc), law offices and other legal service providers, and engineering/construction companies tend to be particularly heavy on attachments due to all the forms, blueprints and other documents they deal with daily. If you are one of these or know your users deal with a lot of large attachments, sizing your system up a model or two is almost always a smart idea.

Due to the complexities of all of these sizing parameters, it's often a good idea to consult with a DataCove technician or sales representative. Give us a ring and we'll talk you through all the different variables that might affect you.