Retaining mail for availability after relay

• US 20070124484A1
• Filed: 11/30/2005
• Published: 05/31/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 11/30/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Sundararajan, Narasimhan, Thiel, Greg, Pearson, Malcolm
• Granted Patent: US 7,921,165 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/230
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1471 involving logging of persistent data for recovery
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/00 User-to-user messaging in packet-switching networks, transmitted according to store-and-forward or real-time protocols, e.g. e-mail
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/42 Mailbox-related aspects, e.g. synchronisation of mailboxes

Abstract

A processor 104 executes computer-executable instructions to receive messages 302; store 304 the received messages in a foreground memory 108; process 306 the stored messages in the foreground memory 108; send 306 the processed messages; move 308 the sent messages to a background memory 110; evaluate 310, 312 the messages in the background memory with respect to a parameter; and delete 314 selected messages in the background memory as a function of the evaluating. Alternatively, a message queue may be used to track lost messages.

Claims

1. A system for handling messages comprising:

a processor 104 configured to execute computer-executable instructions to;

receive and/or send messages 302;

store the received and/or sent messages 304;

process the stored messages 306;

move the processed messages to a holding status 308;

evaluate the moved messages in the holding status with respect to a parameter 310, 312; and

delete selected messages in the holding status as a function of the evaluating 314.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the instructions to move the sent messages to a holding status comprise instructions to mark the sent messages as background or instructions to redirect the sent messages to a background memory, which is different with respect to a foreground memory in which the received messages are stored.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein the parameter comprises a maximum amount of memory, wherein the instructions to evaluate the moved messages in the holding status comprise determining an amount of holding memory storing the messages in the holding status, and wherein the instructions to delete comprise instructions to delete at least some of the messages in the holding status when the determined amount of holding memory exceeds the maximum amount of memory.

4. The system of claim 3 wherein messages are deleted as a function of at least one of a message age, a message size, a message date, and a message priority.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein the parameter comprises a maximum message age, wherein the instructions to evaluate the moved messages in the holding status comprise determining an age of each message and wherein the instructions to delete comprise instructions to delete each message in the holding status when the determined age of the message exceeds the maximum message age.

6. The system of claim 1 wherein the parameter comprises a maximum message size, wherein the instructions to evaluate the moved messages in the holding status comprise determining a size of each message and wherein the instructions to delete comprise instructions to delete each message in the holding status when the determined size of the message exceeds the maximum message size.

7. The system of claim 1 wherein the parameter comprises a maximum message date, wherein the instructions to evaluate the moved messages in the holding status comprise determining an a date of each message and wherein the instructions to delete comprise instructions to delete each message in the holding status when the determined date of the message exceeds the maximum message date.

8. The system of claim 1 wherein the parameter comprises a minimum message priority, wherein the instructions to evaluate the moved messages in the holding status comprise determining a priority of each message and wherein the instructions to delete comprise instructions to delete each message in the holding status when the determined priority of the message is less than the minimum message priority.

9. The system of claim 1 wherein the processor is configured to execute computer-executable instructions 404 to monitor mailboxes for failure and to resend 410 messages in the holding status to a failed mailbox and/or to resend 412 messages in the holding status to all mailboxes.

10. The system of claim 1 wherein the processor is configured to execute computer-executable instructions 402 to receive a request for mail from a particular mailbox and to resend 410 messages in the holding status to the particular mailbox in response to the received request and/or to resend 412 messages in the holding status to all mailboxes in response to the received request.

11. A computerized method for handling messages comprising:

Receiving and/or sending messages;

storing the received and/or sent messages;

processing the stored messages;

moving the processed messages to a holding status;

evaluating the moved messages in the holding status with respect to a parameter; and

deleting selected messages in the holding status as a function of the evaluating.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein one or more computer-readable media have computer-executable components executed by a computing device for performing the method of claim 8.

13. The method of claim 11 comprising marking the sent messages as background or redirecting the sent messages to a background memory, which is different with respect to a foreground memory in which the received messages are stored.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the parameter comprises a maximum amount of memory, wherein evaluating the moved messages in the holding status comprises determining an amount of holding memory storing the messages in the holding status, wherein deleting comprises deleting at least some of the messages in the holding status when the determined amount of holding memory exceeds the maximum amount of memory, and wherein messages are deleted as a function of at least one of a message age, a message size, a message date, and a message priority.

15. The method of claim 11 wherein the parameter comprises a maximum message age, wherein evaluating the moved messages in the holding status comprises determining an age of each message and wherein deleting comprises deleting each message in the holding status when the determined age of the message exceeds the maximum message age.

16. The method of claim 11 wherein the parameter comprises a maximum message size, wherein evaluating the moved messages in the holding status comprise determining a size of each message and wherein deleting comprises deleting each message in the holding status when the determined size of the message exceeds the maximum message size.

17. The method of claim 11 wherein the parameter comprises a maximum message date, wherein evaluating the moved messages in the holding status comprises determining an a date of each message and wherein deleting comprise deleting each message in the holding status when the determined date of the message exceeds the maximum message date.

18. The method of claim 11 wherein the parameter comprises a minimum message priority, wherein evaluating the moved messages in the holding status comprises determining a priority of each message and wherein deleting comprise deleting each message in the holding status when the determined priority of the message is less than the minimum message priority.

19. A system for handling messages comprising:

a processor 104 configured to execute computer-executable instructions to;

receive and/or send messages 302;

store 304 a listing of the received and/or sent messages in a queue;

process 306 the stored messages;

maintain a second copy of the queue; and

in the event that messages listed in the queue are lost, recover the lost messages listed in the second copy of the queue.

20. The system of claim 19 wherein in the event that messages listed in the queue are lost, contact each relay server to resend the lost messages listed in the second copy of the queue.