The Microsoft Exchange Server team today announced information about the forthcoming service pack 1 (SP1) for Exchange Server 2010—and the details are pretty exciting. Top of the list will be the ability to provision a user's personal archive to a different database from the one where their primary mailbox is stored. Let's put this feature in the "You Asked for It, You Got It!" category. With this ability, you'll be able to implement Exchange 2010's archiving feature using tiered storage.
Overall, the enhancements coming in Exchange 2010 SP1 are grouped in three general categories: archiving and discovery; mobility; and Outlook Web App (OWA). You can find all the details on the the Microsoft Exchange Team Blog, including a short video with team members Ann Vu and Ian Hameroff talking about archiving in Exchange 2010. There's no specific mention of when the service pack will be available other than "later this year." However, they're planning to make a public beta of Exchange 2010 SP1 available in conjunction with TechEd North America in June.
