Vault Cache synchronization

Vault Cache synchronization updates the Vault Cache with changes made to the online archive, and updates the online archive with changes made to the Vault Cache. The changes that are synchronized between Vault Cache and the online archive include create, update, and delete actions on items and folders.

Whether the Vault Cache is fully up to date with the online archive depends on when Vault Cache synchronization and the Exchange Mailbox Archiving task last ran.

The Enterprise Vault Outlook Add-In automatically performs Vault Cache synchronization once a day. If the Outlook Add-In cannot connect to Enterprise Vault, then it waits for five minutes before it attempts to contact the server again.

If an automatic synchronization time is missed, the Outlook Add-In attempts an automatic synchronization when the user next opens Outlook. The first attempt is made after the period specified in the Exchange Desktop policy, in the Vault Cache advanced setting Pause interval.

For example, users may miss their automatic Vault Cache synchronization times during a weekend, when they do not use Outlook. In this case, a large number of header synchronization requests may occur at around the same time on Monday. To avoid an excessive load on the Enterprise Vault server, an Enterprise Vault mechanism limits the number of header synchronization requests that are accepted. When this mechanism operates, automatic synchronization succeeds for some users. Other users have to wait until their header synchronization request is processed. The mechanism is invisible to users, so they do not see any error message. Their header synchronization request is repeated, as usual, every five minutes until it succeeds. When the automatic synchronization succeeds, the daily automatic synchronization time is reset to the time of the successful synchronization.

If Vault Cache synchronization is required at other times, the user can start the synchronization in Outlook. A manual synchronization does not affect the next scheduled time for automatic synchronization.

The content download from the Enterprise Vault server to the Outlook client uses Microsoft Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) technology.