Overview
Many organizations operate self-hosted or third-party mail servers that use:
SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) for mail delivery
IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) for mailbox access
These environments may include:
On-premises mail servers
Hosted private mail platforms
Legacy enterprise messaging systems
Application mail relays
Email data within these systems represents critical business records and must often be archived for:
Regulatory compliance
Legal hold and eDiscovery
Supervisory review
Business continuity
Vaultastic enables organizations to ingest and preserve this email data into tiered storage environments optimized for access frequency, retention duration, and cost efficiency.
Vaultastic Storage Tiers
Vaultastic organizes archived email data into purpose-built storage tiers.
| Store | Usage |
|---|---|
| Active Store | High-performance storage for supervision and frequent search |
| Open Store | Medium-term archival with searchable retention |
| Deep Store | Long-term archival optimized for low-cost storage |
Email data can be archived using live mail capture or historical mailbox ingestion.
Email Ingestion Overview
The following table summarizes supported ingestion methods for SMTP and IMAP mail servers.
| Data Source | Destination Store | Method | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Live Email Transactions | Active Store | SMTP Forwarding / BCC / Journaling | Captures inbound and outbound email in real time |
| Existing Mailbox Data | Active / Open / Deep | LegacyFlo (IMAP) | Retrieves mailbox data using IMAP connectivity |
| Exported Mail Files | Active / Open / Deep | File Upload | Upload PST, EML, or MBOX archives |
Live Email Archival
Vaultastic supports real-time capture of email transactions from SMTP mail servers.
Server Forwarding Configuration
To ensure continuous archival of live mail traffic:
Configure server-side forwarding, journaling, or BCC rules.
Route a copy of inbound and outbound messages to the Vaultastic ingestion endpoint.
Apply the rule to selected users, domains, or the entire organization.
Supported forwarding mechanisms vary by mail server and may include:
SMTP journaling
Global BCC rules
Transport rules
Archive mailbox routing
Mail Flow Architecture
The typical ingestion flow is:
Email is sent or received via SMTP.
The mail server generates a copy using forwarding or journaling rules.
The copied message is delivered to Vaultastic.
Vaultastic indexes and stores the message in Active Store.
Benefits of this approach include:
Real-time capture of mail flow
No dependency on end users
Elimination of archival gaps
Immediate search and supervision capability
This configuration is typically performed once at the mail server level.
Historical Mailbox Archival
Email already stored in mailboxes can be archived using LegacyFlo with IMAP connectivity.
IMAP-Based Mailbox Ingestion
LegacyFlo connects to the mail server using IMAP and retrieves mailbox content.
Typical workflow:
LegacyFlo connects to the mail server using IMAP.
Authentication is performed using user or service account credentials.
Mailbox content is retrieved.
Data is uploaded to the selected Vaultastic store.
Supported ingestion options include:
Full mailbox ingestion
Date-range filtered ingestion
Selected users or domain-wide ingestion
Scheduled recurring synchronization
Selecting the Storage Destination
Mailbox data can be archived into different Vaultastic stores depending on the use case.
| Store | Typical Use |
|---|---|
| Active Store | Operational search and supervision |
| Open Store | Searchable long-term retention |
| Deep Store | Long-term regulatory retention |
Archiving Exported Mail Files
If mailbox data has already been exported into archive files, these files can be uploaded directly to Vaultastic.
Supported formats include:
PST
EML
MBOX
These files can be uploaded into:
Open Store for searchable archival
Deep Store for long-term retention
Active Store if operational search is required
Data archived in Open or Deep Store can later be activated into Active Store if needed.
Why Archive SMTP / IMAP Mail Servers
Regulatory Compliance
Many regulations require organizations to retain communication records with:
Immutable storage
Audit trail integrity
Defensible eDiscovery capability
Legacy or self-hosted mail servers typically lack built-in compliant archival mechanisms.
Risk Mitigation
Self-hosted mail environments face risks such as:
Hardware failure
Ransomware attacks
Accidental deletion
Insider manipulation
Vaultastic provides durable and isolated archival storage independent of the production mail server.
Operational Continuity
If the primary mail server:
fails
is migrated
is replaced
is decommissioned
archived content remains accessible and searchable in Vaultastic.
Initial Configuration
Follow these steps to configure SMTP / IMAP mail server archival.
1. Define Archival Scope
Identify the users or domains whose email should be archived.
Determine:
Retention duration
Target storage tier
Forwarding capabilities of the mail server
2. Configure SMTP Forwarding
Configure journaling, BCC, or transport rules on the mail server.
Route mail copies to the Vaultastic ingestion endpoint and verify that messages are being archived correctly.
This protects all live mail flow from the activation point forward.
3. Configure IMAP Access
Enable IMAP access on the mail server and provide the required connection details.
Typical configuration parameters include:
IMAP server host
port number
encryption type (SSL/TLS)
authentication credentials
A dedicated service account is recommended for mailbox ingestion.
4. Run Historical Mailbox Ingestion
Using LegacyFlo:
perform full mailbox ingestion, or
ingest email using date-based filters
Validate that the data has been successfully uploaded and indexed.
5. Configure Ongoing Synchronization (Optional)
If required, configure recurring IMAP synchronization jobs to archive newly delivered messages.
Monitor ingestion status using LegacyFlo request dashboards.
Recommended Implementation Sequence
A typical deployment follows this sequence:
Configure SMTP forwarding to capture live mail flow.
Validate ingestion into the Active Store.
Configure IMAP connectivity in LegacyFlo.
Run historical mailbox ingestion.
Enable incremental synchronization if required.
Validate search, indexing, and retention policies.
Benefits of SMTP / IMAP Archival with Vaultastic
Archiving SMTP and IMAP mail servers into Vaultastic provides:
Continuous capture of live communications
Complete historical email coverage
Protection against mail server failures
Regulatory compliance readiness
Centralized supervision and auditing
By combining SMTP-based live capture with IMAP-based historical ingestion, organizations achieve comprehensive and defensible email preservation across legacy and modern mail infrastructures.