With the recent release of Outlook Connector 4.0, I wanted to review with you some guidelines for improving the performance of Outlook Connector. Outlook’s performance is affected by many things, including the amount of data it has to keep track of, any add-ons that are installed, how often it checks for new mail, and various other factors. The following guidelines will help ensure you get the best performance out of Outlook when using Outlook Connector.

1. With each new version of Outlook Connector, various performance enhancements are made, thus, we recommend using the latest version of Outlook Connector on the MDaemon server and the latest Outlook Connector plug-in on each client. On the MDaemon server, you can check the version of Outlook Connector that’s installed by navigating to Help – View the release notes for your version of Outlook Connector. Users can verify their version of the Outlook Connector plug-in by clicking on the “About” tab on the Outlook Connector toolbar in Outlook. Click here to download the latest version of Outlook Connector. On this page, click on the “Download Now” button to download Outlook Connector on the server. There are also links to download the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the Outlook Connector client.
2. We recommend using Outlook Connector with MDaemon 14 and above. Newer versions of MDaemon also have various performance enhancements. You can get the latest version of MDaemon here.
3. We recommend disabling all Outlook Add-ins except the Outlook Connector plug-in. In Outlook 2016, 2013 & 2010, add-ins are located under File – Add-ins. In Outlook 2007, they’re located under Tools – Trust Center – Add-ins.
4. Regular defragmentation of the MDaemon server’s hard disk is recommended. Server performance can be further improved by reducing the amount of logging MDaemon is doing (Setup – Server Settings – Logging – Settings) along with moving the Logs folder and User, Public and Queues folders to a physically separate disk. When moving logs, queues, or public folders to a separate drive, simply map a drive letter to the drive, then update the Directories section of the MDaemon.lni file (located in the MDaemon/App directory) with the new path to these directories.
   

   Where MDaemon stores mail, queues, logs, etc.

5. We recommend periodically purging and compacting the Outlook Connector database file (local cache). Follow these steps to compact the local cache file:
   1. Make sure Outlook is shut down, and navigate to the Windows control panel.
   2. Click on the Mail control panel.
   3. Click on Email Accounts.
   4. Double-click on your Outlook Connector account.
   5. Click on the Database Management tab.
   6. Locate the Purge Database section and click on the Purge button.
   7. Locate the Compact Database section, and click on the Compact button. You can also check “Compact database on Outlook shutdown” to compact the database each time Outlook is shut down.
      

      Outlook Connector Database Managemen

6. The local Outlook Connector cache file should be excluded from real-time scanning by third party desktop antivirus applications. By default, the local Outlook Connector cache is located at C:/Documents and Settings/-username-/Application Data/Alt-N/ Outlook Connector 4.x/ProfileName/account-name/User’sEmail@YourCompany.com.
7. Outlook should only be configured to use HTML or Plain Text format for sending emails. Depending on the version of Outlook you are using, these settings can usually be found via Tools – Options – Mail Format tab. Outlook should not be configured to use Word as its email editor or to use Rich Text Format (RTF). Both of these methods result in emails which do not adhere to Internet standards.
8. We recommend configuring Outlook Connector’s Send/Receive tab (located under the Account button in the Outlook Connector toolbar) to only check the Inbox folder for new items at each Outlook send/receive interval.
9. Outlook Connector includes the option “Download Headers Only” under the Send/Receive tab of the Outlook Connector Client configuration screen. When this option is enabled, Outlook only downloads the information needed to show messages in the message list, and not the full content of each message. When you click on a message, the rest of the message is downloaded for viewing. Users may experience a slight delay in viewing messages in the preview pane when “Download Headers Only” is enabled because Outlook has to download the rest of the message when it is selected.
10. We recommend configuring the Send/Receive schedule to check for new mail every 3 minutes.
11. We recommend performing these housekeeping tasks regularly:
    1. Delete any email messages, calendar items, and contacts that are no longer needed.
    2. Empty the Deleted Items folder by right-clicking it and selecting Empty Folder.
    3. Delete unwanted items from the Sent Items folder.
    4. Move items out of the Inbox to other mail folders.
    5. Archive old messages. Mail server administrators can implement a server-wide archiving solution such as MailStore to help cut down on the amount of data stored in user mailboxes.

Following these guidelines will help ensure that Outlook Connector continues to run smoothly. For more information, please see our Outlook Connector how-to guides. As always, I’m available if you have questions!