Get Compliant with Exchange Server 2007 Journaling

Executive Summary: New government regulations that require more financial and communications disclosures, such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, are forcing many companies to journal their electronic communications, including internal and external emails, voicemails, and fax messages. Exchange Server 2007 makes journaling easier than with Exchange Server 2003 because Exchange 2007 uses journal rules enforced through the Hub Transport server and allows unified messaging (UM) journaling. This article explains the differences between journaling and archiving; explains journal rules, journal mailboxes, and journal reports; and compares standard journaling with premium journaling in Exchange 2007.

Government regulations are forcing IT administrators to journal increasingly more electronic communications, including email, voicemail, and fax transmissions. Many companies are also adopting similar internal requirements to prevent and prepare for government audits and lawsuits. Like its predecessors, Exchange Server 2007 provides a journaling capability that can help IT comply with such requirements. However, journaling in Exchange 2007 has some important differences from journaling in earlier Exchange versions. In particular, Exchange 2007 uses journaling agents to apply mailbox and unified communications (UC) journal rules via the Hub Transport server role. Exchange 2007 also provides multiple options for collecting journal reports, including journal mailboxes, Exchange Hosted Services, or a third-party archiving service. If you're just getting started using Exchange 2007 or plan to migrate to it, you'll find it helpful to understand the differences between journaling in Exchange 2007 and Exchange Server 2003, Exchange 2007 journaling basics, and the distinctions between standard and premium journaling. (And for a quick look at some regulations that have a bearing on the use of journaling, see the sidebar "A Few Regulations Relevant to Journaling.") . . .