IP Library Granted Patent US 9,819,630
Granted Patent B2
US 9,819,630 · App. 14/687,732 · Granted Nov 14, 2017

Enhanced management of migration and archiving operations

Inventors: Curtis T. Johnstone (Ottawa, CA); Tomas Willis (Madison, WI)
Assignee: QUEST SOFTWARE INC.
H04L51/22H04L51/08H04L67/02H04L67/1097H04L67/42
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 9,819,630
App. No.
14/687,732
Granted
Nov 14, 2017
Kind
B2
Abstract

A network-based solution that provides enhanced management of migration and archiving operations may involve, as embodied in various systems, methods, and non-transitory computer-readable storage media, performing a pre-transfer assessment on each of a plurality of accessed mailboxes designated for migration or archiving. Performing the pre-transfer assessment may include designating one or more emails for exclusion from the migration or archiving operation after applying transferability rules and exception rules to each email message contained in the assessed mailbox. The solution may involve notifying the user about the email messages designated for exclusion and performing one or more user selected actions on the email message or related attachment files.

Claims (84)

1. A computer-implemented method for managing migration and archiving operations, the method comprising:

accessing one or more mailboxes from a source email platform to an application server, each mailbox including a plurality of email messages associated with a user; and

executing instructions stored in memory of the application server, wherein execution of the instructions:

performs a pre-transfer assessment on each of the plurality of accessed mailboxes, wherein the pre-transfer assessment includes:

applying one or more transferability rules to each email message contained in the assessed mailbox,

applying one or more exception rules to each email message contained in the assessed mailbox, and

designating one or more email messages of the assessed mailbox for exclusion from a migration or archiving operation based on at least one of:

a result of the application of the one or more transferability rules, and

a result of the application of the one or more exception rules, and

performs the migration or archiving operation on the assessed mailbox, wherein the migration or archiving operation is not performed on the one or more email messages designated for exclusion;

provides the user with one or more selectable actions to be performed on the one or more email messages excluded from the migration or archiving operation;

receives from the user a selection of one of the one or more actions to be performed on the one or more email messages designated for exclusion; and

performs the selected one or more actions on the one or more email messages designated for exclusion.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the user is at least one of a mailbox owner and an administrator.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein accessing the one or more mailboxes from the source email platform includes at least one of:

downloading the one or more mailboxes from the source email platform, and

accessing the one or more mailboxes at the source email platform by employing one or more messaging application programming interfaces (APIs) over the network.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein applying one or more transferability rules to each email message of the assessed mailbox includes determining that an email message of the assessed mailbox includes an attachment file that exceeds a predetermined attachment size limit.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein determining that the email message of the assessed mailbox includes an attachment file that exceeds the predetermined attachment size limit includes:

inspecting the mailbox for an email message containing an attachment file,

determining a file size of a detected attachment file, and

comparing the file size of the detected attachment file to the predetermined attachment size limit.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein the predetermined attachment size limit is associated with at least one of:

the source email platform; and

a target email platform communicatively coupled to the source email platform over a network.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein applying a plurality of exception rules to each email message of the assessed mailbox includes determining that an age of an email message of the assessed mailbox exceeds a predetermined age limit defined by a user.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein determining that an age of an email message of the assessed mailbox exceeds a predetermined message age limit defined by a user includes at least one of:

determining an age of the email message and comparing the age of the email message to the predetermined message age limit; and

examining metadata associated with the email message.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein applying one or more exception rules to each email message contained in the assessed mailbox includes determining that an attachment file of an email message contained in the assessed mailbox exceeds a predetermined attachment age limit defined by a user, wherein determining that the age of the attachment file of the email message contained in the assessed mailbox exceeds the predetermined age limit defined by the user includes:

inspecting a mailbox for an email message containing an attachment file,

determining an age of a detected attachment file, and

comparing the age of the detected attachment file to the predetermined attachment age limit.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein determining an age of the detected attachment file includes examining metadata associated with the detected attachment file.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein applying one or more exception rules to each email message of the assessed mailbox includes applying a predetermined retention policy defined by a user.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein applying a predetermined retention policy defined by a user includes at least one of:

comparing a classification associated with the email message to a predetermined classification defined by a user, wherein the classification includes at least one of personal information, business information, and confidential information; and

comparing a file type associated with the email message to a predetermined file type defined by a user.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein designating the one or more email messages for exclusion from the migration or archiving operation includes adding the one or more email messages to an exception list.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein providing the user with one or more selectable actions to be performed on the one or more email messages excluded from the migration or archiving operation includes identifying the one or more email messages by way of a graphical user interface displayed at a computing device associated with the user.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving from the user a selection of one or more actions to be performed on the one or more email messages designated for exclusion includes at least one of:

receiving a selection of a single action to be applied to every email message designated for exclusion; and

receiving an individual selection to be applied for each email message designated for exclusion.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein performing the selected one or more actions on the one or more email messages designated for exclusion includes at least one of:

deleting an email message;

storing an email message on a remote storage device;

decrypting an encrypted email message and then performing the migration or archiving operation on the decrypted email message;

modifying an email message by deleting an attachment file of the email message and then performing the migration or archiving operation on the modified email message; and

modifying an email message by stubbing an attachment file of the email message and then performing the migration or archiving operation on the modified email message.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein performing the selected one or more actions on the one or more email messages designated for exclusion includes:

making an attachment file of the email message available for download until a predetermined expiration time,

modifying the email message by deleting the attachment file when the expiration time arrives, and

performing the migration or archiving operation on the modified email message.

18. The method of claim 16 , wherein stubbing the attachment file includes:

uploading a copy of the attachment file to a remote storage device,

removing the attachment file from the email message, and

replacing the attachment file with a link to the copy of the attachment stored at the remote storage device, wherein replacing the attachment file with a link to the copy of the attachment stored at the remote storage device includes generating a visual cue of the attachment and embedding the generated visual cue into the modified email message.

19. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having embodied thereon a computer program executable by a processor to perform a method for automatically processing large email attachments during migration and archiving operations, the method comprising:

accessing one or more mailboxes from a source email platform to an application server, each mailbox including a plurality of email messages associated with a user; and

performing a pre-transfer assessment on each of the plurality of accessed mailboxes, wherein the pre-transfer assessment includes:

applying one or more transferability rules to each email message contained in the assessed mailbox,

applying one or more exception rules to each email message contained in the assessed mailbox, and

designating one or more email messages of the assessed mailbox for exclusion from a migration or archiving operation based on at least one of:

a result of the application of the one or more transferability rules, and

a result of the application of the one or more exception rules, and

performing the migration or archiving operation on the assessed mailbox, wherein the migration or archiving operation is not performed on the one or more email messages designated for exclusion;

providing the user with one or more selectable actions to be performed on the one or more email messages excluded from the migration or archiving operation;

receiving from the user a selection of one of the one or more actions to be performed on the one or more email messages designated for exclusion; and

performing the selected one or more actions on the one or more email messages designated for exclusion.

20. A system for managing migration and archiving operations, the system comprising:

an email platform hosted by a computing device, the email platform storing a plurality of mailboxes, each mailbox including a plurality of emails;

a remote storage device; and

an application server communicatively coupled to the email platform and the remote storage device by a network, the application server having instructions stored in memory, wherein execution of the instructions by a processor of the application server:

accesses one or more of the mailboxes from the email platform;

performs a pre-transfer assessment on each of the accessed mailboxes, wherein the pre-transfer assessments includes:

applying one or more transferability rules to each email message contained in the assessed mailbox,

applying a plurality of exception rules to each email message contained in the assessed mailbox,

designating one or more email messages of the assessed mailbox for exclusion from a migration or archiving operation based on at least one of:

a result of the application of the one or more transferability rules, and

a result of the application of the one or more exception rules; and

performs the migration or archiving operation on the assessed mailbox, wherein the migration or archiving operation is not performed on the one or more email messages designated for exclusion;

provides the user with one or more selectable actions to be performed on the one or more email messages excluded from the migration or archiving operation;

receives from the user a selection of one of the one or more actions to be performed on the one or more email messages designated for exclusion; and

performs the selected one or more actions on the one or more email messages designated for exclusion.

Assignments (26)
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Nov 19, 2025
From: MORGAN STANLEY SENIOR FUNDING, INC.
To: QUEST SOFTWARE INC.; ANALYTIX DATA SERVICES INC.; BINARYTREE.COM LLC; ERWIN, INC.
Reel/Frame 073606/0001 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Nov 18, 2025
From: GOLDMAN SACHS BANK USA, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
To: QUEST SOFTWARE INC.; ANALYTIX DATA SERVICES INC.; BINARYTREE.COM LLC; ERWIN, INC.
Reel/Frame 073613/0326 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Jun 8, 2025
From: QUEST SOFTWARE INC.; ANALYTIX DATA SERVICES INC.; ERWIN, INC.
To: ALTER DOMUS (US) LLC
Reel/Frame 071527/0649 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Jun 8, 2025
From: QUEST SOFTWARE INC.; ANALYTIX DATA SERVICES INC.; ERWIN, INC.
To: ALTER DOMUS (US) LLC
Reel/Frame 071527/0001 →
SECOND LIEN INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Feb 2, 2022
From: QUEST SOFTWARE INC.; ANALYTIX DATA SERVICES INC.; BINARYTREE.COM LLC; ERWIN, INC.; ONE IDENTITY LLC; ONELOGIN, INC.; ONE IDENTITY SOFTWARE INTERNATIONAL DESIGNATED ACTIVITY COMPANY
To: MORGAN STANLEY SENIOR FUNDING, INC.
Reel/Frame 058952/0279 →
FIRST LIEN INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Feb 2, 2022
From: QUEST SOFTWARE INC.; ANALYTIX DATA SERVICES INC.; BINARYTREE.COM LLC; ERWIN, INC.; ONE IDENTITY LLC; ONELOGIN, INC.; ONE IDENTITY SOFTWARE INTERNATIONAL DESIGNATED ACTIVITY COMPANY
To: GOLDMAN SACHS BANK USA
Reel/Frame 058945/0778 →
RELEASE OF SECOND LIEN SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENTS Recorded Feb 2, 2022
From: CREDIT SUISSE AG, CAYMAN ISLANDS BRANCH, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
To: QUEST SOFTWARE INC.
Reel/Frame 059096/0683 →
RELEASE OF FIRST LIEN SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENTS Recorded Feb 2, 2022
From: CREDIT SUISSE AG, CAYMAN ISLANDS BRANCH, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
To: QUEST SOFTWARE INC.
Reel/Frame 059105/0479 →
CHANGE OF NAME Recorded Jun 19, 2018
From: DELL SOFTWARE INC.
To: QUEST SOFTWARE INC.
Reel/Frame 046393/0009 →
FIRST LIEN PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Jun 7, 2018
From: QUEST SOFTWARE INC.
To: CREDIT SUISSE AG, CAYMAN ISLANDS BRANCH, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 046327/0347 →
SECOND LIEN PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Jun 7, 2018
From: QUEST SOFTWARE INC.
To: CREDIT SUISSE AG, CAYMAN ISLANDS BRANCH, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 046327/0486 →
RELEASE OF FIRST LIEN SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENTS RECORDED AT R/F 040581/0850 Recorded May 22, 2018
From: CREDIT SUISSE AG, CAYMAN ISLANDS BRANCH, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
To: QUEST SOFTWARE INC. (F/K/A DELL SOFTWARE INC.); AVENTAIL LLC
Reel/Frame 046211/0735 →
CORRECTIVE ASSIGNMENT TO CORRECT THE ASSIGNEE PREVIOUSLY RECORDED AT REEL: 040587 FRAME: 0624. ASSIGNOR(S) HEREBY CONFIRMS THE ASSIGNMENT. Recorded Nov 28, 2017
From: CREDIT SUISSE AG, CAYMAN ISLANDS BRANCH
To: QUEST SOFTWARE INC. (F/K/A DELL SOFTWARE INC.); AVENTAIL LLC
Reel/Frame 044811/0598 →
SECOND LIEN PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Nov 10, 2016
From: DELL SOFTWARE INC.
To: CREDIT SUISSE AG, CAYMAN ISLANDS BRANCH, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 040587/0624 →
FIRST LIEN PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Nov 9, 2016
From: DELL SOFTWARE INC.
To: CREDIT SUISSE AG, CAYMAN ISLANDS BRANCH, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 040581/0850 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Oct 31, 2016
From: CREDIT SUISSE AG, CAYMAN ISLANDS BRANCH
To: AVENTAIL LLC; DELL PRODUCTS, L.P.; DELL SOFTWARE INC.
Reel/Frame 040521/0467 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST IN CERTAIN PATENTS PREVIOUSLY RECORDED AT REEL/FRAME (040039/0642) Recorded Oct 31, 2016
From: THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A.
To: AVENTAIL LLC; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL SOFTWARE INC.
Reel/Frame 040521/0016 →
RELEASE OF REEL 035860 FRAME 0878 (NOTE) Recorded Sep 14, 2016
From: BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT
To: DELL SOFTWARE INC.; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; COMPELLENT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; SECUREWORKS, INC.; STATSOFT, INC.
Reel/Frame 040027/0158 →
RELEASE OF REEL 035860 FRAME 0797 (TL) Recorded Sep 14, 2016
From: BANK OF AMERICA, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT
To: DELL SOFTWARE INC.; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; COMPELLENT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; SECUREWORKS, INC.; STATSOFT, INC.
Reel/Frame 040028/0551 →
SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Sep 14, 2016
From: AVENTAIL LLC; DELL PRODUCTS, L.P.; DELL SOFTWARE INC.
To: CREDIT SUISSE AG, CAYMAN ISLANDS BRANCH, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 040030/0187 →
SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Sep 14, 2016
From: AVENTAIL LLC; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL SOFTWARE INC.
To: THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A., AS NOTES COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 040039/0642 →
RELEASE OF REEL 035858 FRAME 0612 (ABL) Recorded Sep 13, 2016
From: BANK OF AMERICA, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT
To: DELL SOFTWARE INC.; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; COMPELLENT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; SECUREWORKS, INC.; STATSOFT, INC.
Reel/Frame 040017/0067 →
SUPPLEMENT TO PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT (NOTES) Recorded Jun 9, 2015
From: DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL SOFTWARE INC.; COMPELLENT TECHNOLOGIES, INC; SECUREWORKS, INC.; STATSOFT, INC.
To: BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A., AS NOTES COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 035860/0878 →
SUPPLEMENT TO PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT (TERM LOAN) Recorded Jun 9, 2015
From: DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL SOFTWARE INC.; COMPELLENT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; SECUREWORKS, INC.; STATSOFT, INC.
To: BANK OF AMERICA, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 035860/0797 →
SUPPLEMENT TO PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT (ABL) Recorded Jun 9, 2015
From: DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL SOFTWARE INC.; COMPELLENT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; SECUREWORKS, INC.; STATSOFT, INC.
To: BANK OF AMERICA, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT
Reel/Frame 035858/0612 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Apr 15, 2015
From: JOHNSTONE, CURTIS T.; WILLIS, TOMAS
To: DELL SOFTWARE, INC.
Reel/Frame 035419/0104 →
Continuity (1)
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