Replication
One final important feature of public folders is replication, the transfer of
data from one public folder server to one or more public folder servers that
maintain replicas of designated folders via a series of content-replication
messages. The messages keep the source and destination servers synchronized.
Replication moves public folder data closer to the end user to improve performance
and is valuable where network latency is a problem. Public folder replication
is also commonly used to provide redundancy, so that if an outage occurs on
one public folder server, the content remains accessible via a replica on another
public folder server.
MOSS 2007 doesn't have out-of-the-box replication functionality; however, third-party
vendors such as iOra offer products that fit this scenario. iOra Accelerator
for SharePoint replicates Web and file-based content to a remote server or an
end user's machine.
The Way Forward
You can begin to prepare for the retirement of public folders by assessing how
public folders are used in your organization. Questions to answer include the
following:
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How many folders are actively being used?
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How many folders are dormant?
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Which folders are mail-enabled?
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What is the security structure of your folder hierarchy?
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Are you replicating folders, and why?
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Where are you using custom forms, event sinks, and workflow?
Several tools help with assessment and
migration. Quest Software's MessageStats
can help you analyze your public folder
infrastructure, and its Public Folder Migrator
for SharePoint can help you migrate content from public folders to SharePoint containers. AvePoint's DocAve 4.1 Migrator for
SharePoint is another such tool.
If you use public folders as a simple document repository and don't rely on
replication, migrating to SharePoint is a natural and relatively straight-forward
process. If, however, you use public folders as a document repository with highly
complex workflow, custom forms, and event sink routines, Microsoft recommends
that you leave them running happily in Exchange. But given that the future of
public folders is uncertain, now would be a good time to start investigating
redesigning these applications for a more suitable platform such as Microsoft
.NET Framework 3.0, taking advantage of WSS 3.0, MOSS 2007, and Exchange 2007
Web Services. Migrating from public folders provides the opportunity for you
to assess these new capabilities and determine whether your organization can
leverage them.