Email Backup or Archival? What’s the Difference?
April 24th, 2012
Most companies will backup your email in one way or another; only some offer “email archival,” which is usually a separate service. On the surface, these seem to be the same — providing copies of your data for “just in case.” So, what’s the difference?
Email Backups
A backup refers to a copy of data that may be used to restore the original in the event the latter is lost or damaged beyond repair. It is a safeguard for data that is being used.
Backups are typically:
- Snapshots of what your data looked like at a particular time (e.g., when you save a “backup” copy of an important document you are writing once in a while, just in case.)
- Associated with a location. On-site backups are located in essentially the same location as the original data. Off-site backups are located far away from the originals. It is fast and easy to recover using an on-site backup, but if the location itself is having issues, both the original and the on-site backups could be compromised or destroyed. The off-site backups are the fail-safe in this case. It is typically slower to recover using them, and they are often costlier to maintain. However, if on-site backups are lost, off-site is important!
In the context of email and messaging in general, backups provide copies of all messages that you have stored at specific points in time. Backups will NOT contain copies of messages that were received and deleted before the backup was made and will also not contain messages that were never actually saved in your mail folders.
Email Archival
“An archive refers to a single or a collection of historical records specifically selected for long-term retention and future reference. It is often data that is no longer actively used.”
Unlike backups, archived email:
- Includes a copy of every message sent or received
- Is not a point-in-time snapshot, but a continuously updating history of inbound and outbound messaging
- Cannot be edited or deleted (at least until a certain pre-defined expiration period is met). I.e., archived email must be “tamper-proof”
- Cannot be used to restore lost or deleted email folders
- Can be easily searched
- Can be compliant to meet HIPAA, GLBA, and other requirements.
Compare Email Backups and Archival
Here is a more detailed comparison of email backups and archival as they apply at LuxSci.
| Feature | Backup | Archival |
| Cost | Included | Extra |
| Snapshots of email data? | Yes | – |
| Stored “On-Site” with your email data? | Yes | – |
| Stored “Off-Site” from your email data? | Depends | Yes |
| Copies of ALL sent and received email | Not usually | Yes |
| Restore deleted email folders | Yes | – |
| Restore deleted email messages | Yes | Yes |
| Searchable | – | Yes |
| Email accessible by end-users/administrators | Not usually | Yes |
| Email accessible by support staff | Yes | – |
| Saved in different geographic locations | Depends | Yes |
