Outlook vs. Exchange

Question

Does Microsoft Exchange and Outlook use the same PST file? I tried searching in google but could not find an exact answer. Need your idea guys. Thanks

Answer 1

They are two different things, so the answer is no.

Outlook has a cached version of your mailbox, calendar, contacts, etc, stored in a .OST file. The exchange server uses its own database for storing your mail stores etc.

You CAN also have a PST file open in Outlook at the same time as your Exchange connection, but they are also two seperate files.

Answer 2

Definitely not.

When Oulook works with local storage, it uses PST files, which are somewhat like Access databases; they are local files opened and managed by Outlook itself.

When Outlook talks to an Exchange server, it acts like a client application accessing data in a database system; the Exchange store behaves very much like a DBMS, and there is a dedicated server process managing data and serving them to clients. The storage engine is completely different, and so is the file format.

You'll find these links quite helpful:

• PST Files
• Extensible Storage Engine