Microsoft Rethinks Exchange Storage Architecture

Microsoft’s Exchange data storage strategy is up in the air, following the decision to stop development of the Local Web Storage System (LWSS) and related development tools. The LWSS, originally slated to ship in Office XP, was a client-side message database for Outlook that would have dramatically improved both offline and online functionality and performance. The LWSS team has been combined with other development groups in Microsoft in a push to develop the next version of the SQL Server storage engine, code-named Yukon, and to make that engine the core storage component for a future version of Exchange. Although Yukon promises a quantum leap in database architecture for Microsoft, it is a long way from realization. In the meantime, Microsoft’s competitors have a golden opportunity to win ground against Microsoft in the groupware arena and even its friends—developers focusing on Exchange-based communications and collaboration applications—have been left in limbo while Microsoft solidifies its strategy and plans.