<p>When Microsoft launched Exchange Server 2010, it introduced the Personal Archives feature.Personal Archives are somewhat comparable to personal storage files, but hosted on the Exchangeserver in regular mailbox databases. The tradeoff to using Personal Archives is that you needed anonline connection with the Exchange Server to access them.</p><p>With the release of ExchangeServer 2010, Personal Archives had to be located in the same database as a user's primarymailbox. While this might have been fine for some customers, many customers asked for moreflexibility with storing the archive mailbox in alternate locations, like on another database or onanother server. Exchange 2010 SP 1 loosenedthe requirements and allowed the archives to be hosted on any database or server in the entireExchange organization.</p><p>Because of the benefits of a hybrid Exchange deployment, you can also store Personal Archives inOffice365 while keeping the primary mailbox on-premises. This option is referred to as ExchangeOnline Archives and is available as a separate SKU in Office 365 or Exchange Online.The value of online archives</p><p>Using Exchange Online Archives allows you to provide users with the functionality of an archivewithout necessarily having to maintain the infrastructure to support it. This puts you in theunique position of importing existing PST files into Exchange with little tono additional effort. Not only will you get rid of the burden of running PSTs in your environment,but Exchange Online Archives also can protect stored data.</p><p><a href="http://searchexchange.techtarget.com/tip/Exchange-Online-Archives-offers-functionality-without-infrastructure">Keep reading...</a></p>