Proofpoint Enterprise Archive:
Real-Time Email Message Search

Unlike other email message search systems that store all message information centrally, resulting in an ever-expanding database, the Proofpoint email message search system uses a distributed grid email storage model. When an email reaches the Proofpoint network for archiving, our servers process the email message and write them to a block of email messages called a "store". Each store, deliberately kept small in size, is then copied to multiple servers.

When you perform an email message search, the message search request is simultaneously executed against all of the stores that comprise your company's archive. Messages that match the search criteria from each store are then aggregated to produce the full message search results. This parallel message search model is similar in design to the engine that powers major web search sites.

Proofpoint's unique parallel, distributed search technology returns email message search results in near real-time – typically a few seconds.

No. As your message archive grows, the Proofpoint distributed network searches in more and more stores, but the time it takes to execute each message search remains the same. The net result is consistently fast searches – no matter how much data you accumulate.

Yes. The Proofpoint email message search network was designed to support parallel activities and can handle concurrent search activity with limited impact on response time.

Yes. Proofpoint fully indexes the entire email message, including the full text of the body and the content of over 300 types of file attachments. This allows you to find words or phrases wherever they may appear within the message or attached documents.

Yes. While the Proofpoint search user interface is designed to make it easy to search messages without an understanding of complex boolean logic, you can use bracketed conditions and boolean terms as part of your keyword searches.

Proofpoint is tightly integrated with Microsoft Active Directory, allowing customers to specify users, rather than email addresses for search purposes. In this way, regardless of which SMTP alias the user sent the message with, the appropriate messages will be returned. For example, to find all emails from Robert Smith who uses multiple email addresses such as rsmith@company.com and robert.smith@company.com and robert@company.com, using Proofpoint's "people-aware" message search functionality, you only need to input one search criteria using the Active Directory user account Robert Smith.

In addition, when searching for conversations between parties that may each have multiple email addresses, using the Active Directory user account as the search criteria automatically generates the Boolean logic required to include all possible combinations of email addresses. This allows simpler email message search queries to be used when locating email conversations between parties that may have multiple email addresses. For example, when looking for email conversations involving three people, each with two different email addresses, Proofpoint requires only one search step, unlike other message search systems where up to six or more search queries with complex "and/or" logic is required.

Yes. Search users are granted access to see one or more mailboxes. Archive discovery users can see all mailboxes within the company's archive. Either way, a user can select a subset of the mailboxes they have access to as part of the criteria for their search.

Yes. Adding a user to the "Archive Search Users" group within Active Directory automatically allows them to search through their own mailbox (and nowhere else).

Yes. Both standard and advanced message searches can be saved for reuse. You can also create folders to organize your saved searches.

Yes. Messages from the archive can either be printed, individually sent to the user’s inbox, or exported into PST files or EDRM-XML formatted output.

All email data is fully indexed within Proofpoint, which is not the case within Outlook. While searching through a large inbox can take minutes in Outlook, it takes seconds in Proofpoint. Furthermore, Outlook does not support searching within attachments, while Proofpoint does. Proofpoint also highlights the search word(s) or phrase(s) that appear within the subject or body of the message.