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More about the Cached Exchange Mode Feature in Outlook

The power of the Cached Exchange Mode feature lies in the ability it gives to Outlook users to be able to work on contents of the mailbox that is typically stored on the Microsoft Exchange server, on their local computer. When this mode is enabled, Outlook makes a local copy of the mailbox and stores the contents in an offline folder file or OST file along with the offline address book or OAB. Whatever the speed and status of the connection, the user can continue working on the contents without fear of any interruption since they are available even when offline. Further, by ensuring that there is a proper backup and recovery system available even on the local system, the user can ensure that during an exchange recovery there is minimum loss of data. Typically, both the cached contents of the mailbox as well as the offline address book are synchronized with the ones on the Exchange server whenever the user goes online.

When Outlook is being used for the first time in the Cached Exchange Mode, it will first create a local copy of the mailbox residing on the Exchange server and cache all the contents into this offline folder file or OST. At this point, both the local copy and the mailbox have the same contents. Similarly, Outlook also creates an offline address book. The user can now work on these OST files without having to worry about whether it is the local copy or from the mailbox on the server - the Cached Exchange Mode takes care of proper and regular synchronization with the user's mailbox on Exchange server so that both copies are kept up-to-date. This also gives the user control over various backup and exchange recovery methods to implement in case there is any damage to the OST files or the mailbox on the server is deleted.

The benefits of the Cached Exchange Mode are two-fold: The first is quite obviously the ability it gives to Outlook users to be able to switch between working online and offline without any interruption in work; The second is the protection it offers the users from various network or connection issues. Users do not have to worry about the speed of the connection, frequent disconnects from the server or network problems. They can continue working on their local copy and only go online once their work has been completed. Users do not have to be connected to the network to be able to access mails or any other information - they can simply do that from their local copy. Even exchange recovery becomes easy since users can use their local OST Files to recover all the data that is stored in the mailbox on the server.

Just a note of caution, if the mailbox on the Exchange server is deleted, it is not easy to access the contents of orphaned OST files. Use a sophisticated repair tool such as Advanced exchange recovery from DataNumen to restore the contents from orphaned or damaged OST files.