OL2000: (CW) Outlook Speed Enhancement to Calendar Folder Access

Microsoft Outlook uses background synchronization to improve performance for those who work primarily while connected to a Microsoft Exchange Server. Outlook offers an option to automatically configure the Calendar to work from a local folder and synchronize the local folder with the Microsoft Exchange Server periodically. This enhancement improves performance by providing local access to the Calendar and it decreases the load on the Microsoft Exchange Server so performance and scalability also improve.

When you start Outlook or select the Calendar folder, the Calendar information can display more quickly by working in a mode called "Always use local calendar." This allows you the speed benefit of working offline on a local copy of the Calendar information, while being in sync with the current information on the Microsoft Exchange Server mailbox store. Outlook handles this by running calendar folder synchronization in a background process that is transparent to you.

The background synchronization process synchronizes the server based Calendar information with a local Offline Folder (.OST file). If your profile is already configured for offline use, the Local Calendar feature will use the existing .OST file to access and synchronize Calendar information. If your Outlook profile is not configured for offline use, an .OST file will be created specifically for the Calendar.

When working in "Always use local calendar" mode, if you make a change to your Calendar (local .OST file), a background synchronization thread starts after 10 seconds, making both the local and server-based calendars identical. If a delegate or other user with proper permissions makes a change to your server-based calendar, Microsoft Exchange Server notifies Outlook, which starts a background process to sync the local calendar with the server calendar.

NOTE: This feature works with all versions of Microsoft Exchange Server.

Selecting the "Always use local calendar" Option

To select the "Always use local calendar" option, follow these steps:

1. On the Tools menu, click Options.
2. On the Preferences tab, click Calendar Options.
3. Click to select the "Always use local calendar" check box.

For more information about Offline Folders, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: