Relocating Personal Folders in Outlook 2007 (WXP Pro SP3)

[Rob T]

I'd like to move my Outlook 2007 personal folders to a Network Attached
Storage RAID array, but I can't seem to make it happen. When I move the .PST
file, Outlook warns me twice that it can't fine it, then allows me to browse
to their location. Then asks a third time (re: mail folders this time), and
doesn't give me that opportunity; it just aborts.

I tried using File>Data File Management, but can't seem to find any way to
point it to a new location. Can this not be done?

 

[Vince Averello]

Just so you know, MS highly recommends against storing PSTs on a network
share...

 

[cool.balan]

Hey,

Just wanted to update you on that....

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/297019/en-us

Personal folder files are unsupported over a LAN or over a WAN link


Top 3 reasons why PST’s are not supported on over a network:

1. All operations take longer.

2. Write operations can take approximately four times longer than read
operations.

3. Outlook has slower performance than the Exchange Client.


The .pst files are not meant to be a long-term, continuous-use method of
storing messages in an enterprise environment. Two alternatives are
suggested: using .ost files or Microsoft Windows Terminal Services.

The Microsoft Exchange Server 4.0 team created .pst files with the intent of
letting a person maintain a copy of their messages on their local computer.
The .pst files also serve the purpose of a message store for users who do not
have access to a Microsoft Exchange Server computer (for example, Microsoft
Outlook Internet Mail Only (IMO) mode users). Although it is possible to
specify a network directory or a Universal Naming Convention (UNC) path as a
storage location for a .pst file, network usage is not meant to be a
long-term, continuous-use method of storing messages in an enterprise
environment.

A .pst file is a file-access-driven method of message storage, the computer
uses special file access commands that the operating system provides to read
and write data to the file. This is not efficient on WAN or LAN links,
because the operating system has to send those access commands over the
network since the file is not on the local computer. This creates a great
deal of overhead and increases the time it takes to read and write to the
file. Additionally, the use a .pst file over a network connection may result
in a corrupted .pst file if the connection degrades or fails.