NIH Inboxes Expand Thanks to Extended Email Storage Options

Did you notice that your Outlook inbox got bigger? To help tame overflowing virtual inboxes across NIH, the default email box grew from 200 MB to 1 GB as of May 2, 2011.

In the past, NIH Central Email Service has relied on email archival utilities to handle increasing amounts of mail, but these have proven inefficient and overly costly in the NIH environment. Improvements in messaging-related technology and infrastructure now allow CIT to move email at NIH towards extended storage capabilities, that is, larger (e)mailboxes, as the preferred solution.

What about cost?

There is no additional charge for the new 1 gigabyte (GB) (1024 MB) standard allocated mailbox storage space.

Why increase mailbox size?

We increased the default storage limit to 1 GB to help users better accommodate the high volume of email and give everyone expanded storage options. That means fewer warnings about your full mailbox.

Is this the end of "full mailbox" warnings?

No. Even with 1 GB of storage as the default limit, you can still exceed your mailbox storage. Getting a larger email box does not replace good email habits such as deleting non-essential email and saving off or moving to shared folders those attachments and content-rich email that you wish to save over the long term. If you go over your 1 GB limit, you will see that warning message once again.

I get a lot of email…

Users may still request increased storage as they have always done using the processes their ICs have always used. Extra GBs are available in increments of 1 GB for an additional fee.

Where can I get information on large mailboxes?

Please go to the CIT Service Catalog and in the "Collaboration and Communication" category, look for "Central Email Service," or contact the NIH IT Service Desk online at http://itservicedesk.nih.gov/support or by calling 301-496-4357, 301-496-8294 (TTY), or toll free at 866-319-4357.

Back to top of page