OST stands for offline store. Offline stores are useful
for users that do not constantly have a connection to the
Exchange server. For example, a laptop users that
connects his laptop to the network when he is in the
office may require an OST so that he can synchronize his
mail to a local ost file that could then be accessed at a
laptop time while on the road (and thus not connected to
the Exchange server).
OST's provide users the ability to read, reply, delete,
etc. items from a locally stored file and the next time
they connect to the Exchange server, the users exchange
mailbox is verified against the local OST and
synchronization occurs.
So to answer your question, no RAS and VPN setup is not
required, but you will see it in many articles related to
OSTs because that is the intention of using an OST.
To "work offline" and occassionaly perform synchs with the
Exchange server either via dialup, VPN, or LAN connections.
-----Original Message-----
Hi there. I'm not very familiar with OST files as we
currently use a Citrix server for accessing Outlook. From
what i'm reading...does this only work with a dial-up
connection or can it go through hi-speed (dsl or cable)?
Seems like the articles always references RAS and VPN. is
this needed? If so...anyone know a good step-by-step
article on setting all this up (and also to get thru my
ISA firewall)? Any help is very much appreciated.
