The old dumpster in Exchange 2003 and Exchange 2007 was valuable for recovering deleted email, but it had some basic compliance shortcomings. (Want more information on dumpster? See here.) It only contained deleted email, not deleted calendars or contacts. It was not indexed or searchable, and users were allowed to purge email from the dumpster, perhaps in violation of email retention policy.
Exchange 2010 has some important improvements to the dumpster. It now:
- Includes all deleted items from the mailbox, including email, calendars, contacts, and more.
- Is indexed so it can be searched using the new multi-mailbox search tool in Exchange 2010.
- Is extended with new Purges and Versions folders:
- The Purges folder keeps items that users purge from the dumpster for the length of the dumpster retention period.
- The Versions folder keeps a copy-on-write snapshot of email that users modify.
- The Exchange 2010 dumpster still operates with a retention period (14-day default) or custom. The new dumpster features are a welcome addition to Exchange.
By capturing all deleted items and preventing users from purging email, it closes two major "leaks" for email retention and compliance.
... Bob Spurzem