A backup from your active mailbox is a snapshot of your current data in the account at that time. It includes the full folder structure and all encapsulated data within those folders. These are backups that you, the end user, can make yourself from your local machines. That said, don't hesitate to contact us if you find you need any help.
Redtail-hosted email utilizes the Zimbra mail server, so active mailbox data is stored in a .zdb format. If you need the account backed up to transfer the folder structure and live mailbox data from one Zimbra server to another, you can pull a .zdb file from Webmail using the built-in export tool in your webmail preferences. To access this, click the gear in the upper right-hand corner and select Settings:
From within Settings, click Accounts and then select your primary account. Scroll down to Export within that section:
When you click the Export button, it will prompt you to download an export of your mailbox directly from the browser. The file format that downloads is a .tgz file. This is a compressed file that contains a .zdb file that can be imported into another Zimbra server/account as needed. This file type cannot be opened in any other program.
If you need a backup of your entire mailbox including all folder structure as it actively exists in your account to be opened or imported into another mail program, you will use the mail client of your choosing to make those backups. Most mail clients have built in import/export tools for this process — here is a useful article on how to do that with Outlook: https://help.redtailtechnology.com/hc/en-us/articles/203965870-Outlook-2010-Creating-A-pst-File
Why can’t Redtail make this kind of backup for me?
We can make a .zdb file backup and provide it in the same format you could export from your browser, but we cannot download your account into a mail client and make backups for those mail clients.
Can I make this kind of backup for my compliance audits?
Although we’d encourage you to verify with your compliance department or the auditing entity requesting the data, generally the answer is no. An auditor usually requires a backup of all data sent/received within a specified period of time, including anything that may have been deleted from the mailbox. This means they want a backup from the archive where no data has been deleted. Archive backups do not contain any folder structure from the mailbox and contain all data that passed through the account at any time. You can request this type of backup through our support team by emailing support@redtailtechnology.com or by giving us a call at 800-206-5030.
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