Can Entourage Main Identity stored on server?

D

dsd17

Does anyone know if Entourage will allow the Main Identity folder to be
stored on a file server so that a user can open their mail from
multiple machines? Only one session of Entourage would be open at any
given time. Shouldn't I be able to point the identity folder to the
network share and have Entourage pull it from there?
 
A

Adam Bailey

dsd17 said:
Does anyone know if Entourage will allow the Main Identity folder to be
stored on a file server so that a user can open their mail from
multiple machines? Only one session of Entourage would be open at any
given time. Shouldn't I be able to point the identity folder to the
network share and have Entourage pull it from there?
Click to expand...

I have no first-hand experience with this, but I'm told that you can make an
alias to your Microsoft User Data from your main machine on your secondary
machine. Make sure you're using the latest version of Entourage.

Note that you have to do this for your entire MUD folder, you cannot do it
for just one identity.

If you have a proper AFP network file server, you could put your whole Home
Directory on the server. Entourage also supports this.
 
D

dsd17

Yeah, I figured it would be for the whole MUD folder. I'll have to test
it out then. Thanks for the info.
 
S

scott boettcher

FWIW, I'm testing that, but I did have my identity get corrupted twice.
Not sure why yet, but I am continuing to test.
I have some major network upgrades going on, so that may or may not be part
of the cause.
Technically, it should work fine, and so far, has, but not 100%.

SB
 
S

Stefan

dsd17 said:
Does anyone know if Entourage will allow the Main Identity folder to be
stored on a file server so that a user can open their mail from
multiple machines?
Click to expand...

That's what IMAP is for.

Stefan
 
D

dsd17

I'm having trouble selecting the MUD from the other computer. Could you
tell me the method you used to do this?
 
D

dsd17

I cannot find an option to select a network share anywhere in the
Entourage menus. How do I tell Entourage that the Identity folder is
located in another location?
 
A

Adam Bailey

dsd17 said:
I cannot find an option to select a network share anywhere in the
Entourage menus. How do I tell Entourage that the Identity folder is
located in another location?
Click to expand...

Create an Alias of the actual Microsoft User Data folder and place it in
your Documents folder. You're essentially "faking" Entourage out.
 
S

scott boettcher

Your "MUD" folder is in user/library/documents.
There is no setting, per se in Entourage.

You have to copy it to a server volume and make an alias is the above
location - USING THE EXACT SAME NAME is a MUST.

I'm getting lots of corrupted identities doing this, so for now, I am not
going to continue.

SB
 
S

Stefan

scott said:
Your "MUD" folder is in user/library/documents.
There is no setting, per se in Entourage.

You have to copy it to a server volume and make an alias is the above
location - USING THE EXACT SAME NAME is a MUST.

I'm getting lots of corrupted identities doing this, so for now, I am not
going to continue.
Click to expand...

Again: if you need (or want) this functionality, then use IMAP. IMAP was
designed to handle this.

Stefan
 
N

Nick Collingridge

IMAP does something very different - your mail stays on the server. What I
believe that the original poster was asking for was a way of reliably having
your Identities folder located on a server. The solution as described is
correct and works absolutely fine with a local volume (I have used this
approach for ages now as I don't like keeping my identity on my boot
volume), but I can believe that this would be problematic across a network.

What I would like is a way of automatically cloning the active identity to a
different location (maybe on a server) at a regular interval.

Nick
 
S

Stefan

Nick said:
IMAP does something very different - your mail stays on the server. What I
believe that the original poster was asking for was a way of reliably having
your Identities folder located on a server.
Click to expand...

The original poster asked:
Does anyone know if Entourage will allow the Main Identity folder to be
stored on a file server so that a user can open their mail from
multiple machines?
Click to expand...

And this is *exactly* what IMAP does.

Stefan
 
N

Nick Collingridge

Oh yes? So everything that's in your Identity folder is kept on the server
with IMAP? Does this include all your contacts, appointments, tasks, notes
etc, that are all stored in your Identities folder?

Nick
 
S

Stefan

Nick said:
Oh yes? So everything that's in your Identity folder is kept on the server
with IMAP? Does this include all your contacts, appointments, tasks, notes
etc, that are all stored in your Identities folder?
Click to expand...

As you obviously cannot read, I'll help you. Repeat after me: "... so
that a user can open their mail from multiple machines".

Stefan
 
N

Nick Collingridge

Let's not get aerated about this - instead, let's agree to the following:

IF all you want is email, then using IMAP will achieve this aim.

IF, OTOH, you want all the functionality that Entourage offers on multiple
systems (ie not leaving behind the calendar, contacts, ToDos, notes etc on
only one system), then you need to play the game with the Identity folder.

Of course, IF all you actually want is email then Apple Mail with IMAP may
be an entirely acceptable solution.

Nick
 
S

Stefan

Nick said:
IF all you want is email, then using IMAP will achieve this aim.

IF, OTOH, you want all the functionality that Entourage offers on multiple
Click to expand...
....

I absolutely agree.

The original poster asked specifically about the email only, and I
answered his question. If I ask a question, then I usually am most happy
when I get an answer to this question and not to something different
which I didn't want to know.

Of course you can then still append: Maybe you haven't thought of this,
but if you also want ...

Stefan
 
S

scott boettcher

Stefan:

AGAIN, read the question.
You are not grasping the question.
Please stop replying with this as an answer - it's not.

SB
 
S

scott boettcher

Stefan,

Enough. You don't get the question.

The user wants to keep his database and other MUD items on a server - there
are many reasons why someone would want to do this. One, if your local
drive goes dowm or your laptop is lost/stolen, you won't lose all your
emails.
Two, the MUD folder is backed up, per the normal server backup schedule.

IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH LEAVING YOUR MAIL ON A MAIL SERVER.

SB
 
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