Super-ExMerge was designed at a fundemantal level to provide amazing performance, broad capability, and ease of use. Putting those elements together was no easy task, and Priasoft worked hard to bring often competing ideas together. The following list of features highlights valuable elements of the product.
Performance
- Dynamic Multi-Threading: Each active sync task uses a new “thread-lane” thread scheduler that ensures the maximum number of threads are being used without being “too much”. The concept is much like checkout lanes at a grocery store where when one lane slows down a new checkout lane is added temporarily.
- Each activity is also threaded. The enumeration of folders happens separately from the analysis of changes, which is also separate from the copying of items.
- Multi-process: The task queue engine can process multiple tasks concurrently. CPU and RAM on the host will determine how many can run concurrently, as will the resource consumption on the source and target environment.
- Only new and changed data is copied. Full fidelity synchronization tracking means that items with no changes are quickly skipped. This includes synchronizations with a PST file – useful for pushing updates only to a PST file, versus doing a complete second “export” of the same data just to pick up new data.
- Multi-host is possible: Multiple hosts can install Super-ExMerge if needed to further increase performance.
- Processing runs via a Windows Service Host, which allows for unattended use – an admin is not required to be logged on for tasks to run.
- Data is accessed with the lowest level elements of MAPI, which is the native application protocol for Microsoft Exchange and PST files. This means that data remains in a native, binary format during processing and avoids costly translation to/from XML or JSON as seen with many other solutions.
- There is no double- or triple-copy of data. In contrast to some processes that export to one place then import to another, creating a double-copy routine, Super-ExMerge copies/sync’s data directly from a source store to at target store.
- Testing has shown a 4-10x increase of throughput over previous and other tools, even with Office 365.
Platform Support
- All Microsoft Exchange versions are supported: Exchange 2003 thru Exchange 2019. Same-forest, cross-forest, and cross-premises scenarios are supported.
- Office 365 Exchange Online is supported, source or target or both. Can instantly help with tenant-to-tenant or on-premises-to-tenant data migration/synchronization headaches.
- User Mailboxes, Shared Mailboxes, Exchange In-Place Archive Mailboxes, and Exchange Public folders as supported.
- PST Files are supported, both ANSI and UNICODE versions.
- Super-ExMerge can run on any Windows OS that is able to have Microsoft Outlook installed upon it.
- Any version of Outlook can be used*, 32bit or 64bit: Outlook 2003 thru Outlook 2019 and Office 365 Pro Plus. Click-to-run versions are also supported.
* depends upon Microsoft Exchange’s support of the same. Outlook 2016 cannot connect to Exchange 2007, for example. - Outlook does not need to be activated or licensed. It only needs to be properly installed. Super-ExMerge only uses the MAPI libraries from Outlook, not Outlook itself.
Broad Scenario Support
- Mailbox-to-Mailbox
- Mailbox-to-Archive
- Mailbox-to-PST
- Mailbox-to-PublicFolders
- PublicFolders-to-Mailbox
- PublicFolders-to-Archive
- PublicFolders-to-PST
- PublicFolders-to-PublicFolders
- Archive-to-Archive
- Archive-to-Mailbox
- Archive-to-PST
- Archive-to-PublicFolder
- PST-to-Mailbox
- PST-to-Archive
- PST-to-PublicFolder
PowerShell
- Super-ExMerge was built from the start as a PowerShell-based experience.
- Super-ExMerge modules are compiled .NET assemblies, which outperform script-based modules.
- Modern PowerShell conveniences are part of the design such as aliased and positioned parameters and pipeline support.
- Key metrics can be retrieved easily with cmdlets – useful for posting data to a SharePoint site, web-site, or NOC (Network Operations Center) software.
- Large Enterprise ideas included from the start with the ability to easily create large task queues, manage state and priority, and access reports via scripted processes
Task Queue
- Super-ExMerge uses a task queue for processing. Multiple tasks can be enqueued with support well into 1000s of tasks, if needed.
- Items in the task queue can be reordered and can be set with a StartOnOrAfter time to provide a “scheduled start” feature.
- Completed and failed items can easily be “re-queued” using a simple Reset-SyncTask command.
- Task queue items can be exported to files and imported at a later time.
- Task queue items can be removed and re-added.
Granular Control
- Specific individual folders, subtrees, or entire mailboxes can be configured for sync. The entirety of Public Folders can be synchronized if needed.
- Folders can be configured to sync items that match a desired date range, possibly sync’ing only recently modified items instead of all data.
- Action controls exist to limit the direction of data flow from a full, two-way sync of all actions to only processing new items from one side.
- Action controls can be set on a per-folder basis, or for an entire sync task.
- Folders can be excluded. Sync a large folder tree and skip over specific folders or those matching a pattern.
- Tasks can overlap. A ‘master’ task that processes the entire folder tree for a store can overlap with another task that processes more specific folders in the same folder tree.
- Each sync task can authenticate as the same account, or as different accounts. This ability can easily avoid throttling limits imposed by Microsoft Exchange.
Secure from the Start
- Super-ExMerge provides strong security models to protect accounts used to authenticate to mailboxes and public folders.
- Credential information is encrypted for reuse without exposing passwords.
- Credentials can be created that work only on a specific host, or on hosts that use the same pre-shared key, or hosts that share the same Priasoft credential cache.
- There are no temp files used to process data. Data-leaks are not possible due to the fact that no temporary files exist that could be left on the host as a result of sync.
- Data being processed is transmitted using Exchange encryption protocols. Data does not move across the wire in clear text.
- Super-ExMerge is not a SaaS solution. Data is never sent to or brought into Priasoft’s environment or any other 3rd party. Data is ONLY sync’d from and to the stores configured.
- Synchronization tasks run via a windows server. Tool users are not required to be logged on to the host for processing. Tasks can be created and started, then users can logoff.
Reports and Logs
- Logs are created for all activities that are easily read, filtered, and consumed. Either by PowerShell commands or by the Microsoft Service Trace Viewer.
- Reports are generated to help understand results such and total data copied, metrics per-folder, and differences between source and target stores.
- Item failures, although rare, have separate logs for tracking and analysis for the time when it occurs.
- Metrics are available for active and completed tasks with multiple levels of detail.
- Each task is supported by its own log file, instead of all activity being combined in one windows event log.
