ACTIVE EMAIL COLLECTOR

• US 20100250498A1
• Filed: 11/06/2009
• Published: 09/30/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 03/27/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Bank of America Corp.
• Original Assignee: Bank of America Corp.
• Inventors: Andersen, David M., Mayer, Michael J.
• Granted Patent: US 8,224,924 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/661
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management

Abstract

Embodiments of the invention relate to systems, methods, and computer program products for electronic discovery and, more particularly, remotely collecting a custodian'"'"'s data that is stored in one or more network storage areas residing on a network. For example, embodiments of the present invention utilize a collection tool to access a mailbox residing on an email server, copy at least some of the active email data stored in the mailbox, and transmit the copied active email data from the mailbox to a collection server and then to a long-term storage device.

Claims

1. A method for collecting data associated with a custodian and stored in a network storage area that resides on a network, the method comprising:

identifying an address of a location on the network storage area where the data is located;

accessing the location on the network storage area where the data is located;

determining whether the data stored in the location on the network storage area is eligible for collection;

if the data is eligible for collection, copying the data;

transmitting the copied data to a staging area;

determining whether the collection is complete; and

storing the data in a long-term storage device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said accessing, determining, copying, and transmitting steps are all undertaken by a collection tool that accesses the network storage area via the network.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the data is active email data.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the network storage area is an email server and the location is a mailbox residing on the email server.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein active email data includes the custodian'"'"'s email, contacts, journals, tasks, or calendar entries.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the active email data is any email that is sent or received by the custodian and not moved off of the email server within a predetermined number of days after being sent or received.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein determining whether the data is eligible for collection comprises:

determining the country in which the email server is located;

determining the country in which the long-term storage device is located; and

determining whether international privacy laws would be violated if the data is copied and transferred from the email server to the long-term storage device.

8. The method of claim 4, wherein identifying the address of the location on the network storage area where the data is located comprises:

determining a mailbox identifier for the mailbox residing on the email server.

9. The method of claim 4, wherein determining whether the collection is complete comprises:

creating a file log as the data is collected from the mailbox; and

indicating a failure on the file log if a file is not successfully copied and transferred from the mailbox to a collection server, wherein the collection is complete if no failures are indicated on the file log.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the files log provides information about the name and location of the exchanger server and dates and times associated with each file that is collected.

11. A system comprising:

an email server for servicing a mailbox associated with a custodian, wherein the custodian'"'"'s data is written to the mailbox;

a collection tool configured to copy and transfer data from the mailbox of the email server to a long-term storage device by;

identifying an address of the mailbox;

using the address to access the mailbox;

determining whether the data stored in the mailbox is eligible for collection;

if the data is eligible for collection, copying the data;

transmitting the copied data to a collection server;

determining whether all of the data has been copied and transferred from the mailbox to the collection server; and

transmitting the data form the collection server to the long-term storage device.

12. The system of claim 11, further comprising:

a case management server that provides a user interface through which identifying information about the custodian may be entered and the collection tool may be observed and managed.

13. The system of claim 11, further comprising:

a database server having at least two distinct areas, including an area designated for housing a custodian directory and an area designated for housing data relating to ongoing collections.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the collection tool is configured to generate a size estimate of the data stored in the mailbox of the email server.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the collection tool is configured to transmit to the database server a log of the data contained in the mailbox of the email server.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein the collection tool is configured to transmit to the database server updated status information regarding the transmission of the copied data.

17. The system of claim 11, further comprising:

a staging location configured to store temporarily and/or stage the copied data as the copied data is received by the collection server.

18. The system of claim 11, wherein the collection server is configured to temporarily store the copied data in a staging location as the data is transmitted to the collection server, and transmit the data to the long-term network storage device after a determination is made that the collection is complete.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the collection server determines that the collection is complete by:

creating a file log as the data is received in the staging location;

indicating a failure on the file lo if a file is not successfully copied and transferred from the mailbox to staging location; and

if no failure is indicated on the file log, determining that the collection is complete.

20. The system of claim 11, wherein the collection tool is configured to determine whether the data stored in the mailbox is eligible for collection by:

determining the country in which the email server is located;

determining the country in which the long-term storage device is located; and

determining whether international privacy laws would be violated if the data is copied and transferred from the email server to the long-term storage device.

21. A computer program product for identifying the path of a personal network storage area residing on a network and belonging to a user, the computer program product comprising a computer readable medium having computer readable program instructions stored therein, wherein said computer readable program instructions comprise:

first instructions configured for crawling the network;

second instructions configured for evaluating paths of network storage areas residing on the network to determine if a path contains an identifier associated with a particular user; and

third instructions configured for transmitting to a database each path containing an identifier associated with a particular user and the identifier contained therein such that the identifier and the path may be related in the database.

22. A computer program product for collecting data associated with a custodian and stored in a network storage area that resides on a network, the computer program product comprising a computer readable medium having computer readable program instructions stored therein, wherein said computer readable program instructions comprise:

first instruction configured for identifying an address of a location on the network storage area where the data is located;

second instructions configured for accessing the location on the network storage area where the data is located;

third instructions configured for determining whether the data stored in the location on the network storage area is eligible for collection;

fourth instructions configured for copying the data if the data is eligible for collection;

fifth instructions configured for transmitting the copied data to a staging area;

sixth instructions configured for determining whether the collection is complete; and

seventh instructions configured for storing the data in a long-term storage device.

23. The computer program product of claim 22, wherein said instructions configured for accessing, determining, copying, and transmitting steps are all executed by a collection tool that accesses the network storage area via the network.

24. The computer program product of claim 23, wherein the data is active email data.

25. The computer program product of claim 24, wherein the network storage area is an email server and the location is a mailbox residing on the email server.

26. The computer program product of claim 25, wherein active email data includes the custodian'"'"'s email, contacts, journals, tasks, or calendar entries.

27. The computer program product of claim 26, wherein the active email data is any email that is sent or received by the custodian and not moved off of the email server ninety days after being sent or received.

28. The computer program product of claim 25, wherein determining whether the data is eligible for collection comprises:

determining the country in which the email server is located;

determining the country in which the long-term storage device is located; and

determining whether international privacy laws would be violated if the data is copied and transferred from the email server to the long-term storage device.

29. The computer program product of claim 25, wherein identifying the address of the location on the network storage area where the data is located comprises:

determining a mailbox identifier for the mailbox residing on the email server.

30. The computer program product of claim 25, wherein determining whether the collection is complete comprises:

creating a file log as the data is collected from the mailbox; and

indicating a failure on the file log if a file is not successfully copied and transferred from the mailbox to a collection server, wherein the collection is complete if no failures are indicated on the file log.

31. The computer program product of claim 30, wherein the files log provides information about the name and location of the exchanger server and dates and times associated with each file that is collected.