The anti-spam appliance vendor learned about the value of archives the hard way -- by getting sued by Trend Micro.

Barracuda Networks, best known for its anti-spam products, announced two mail archiving products for enterprises Tuesday at Interop. Aimed at customers of up to 6,000 employees, the archives improve e-mail management by pulling older mail off production servers, which improves performance and also makes backups smaller.

But legal discovery also is a major driver of e-mail archives. Companies involved in litigation often have to produce electronic records, including e-mail, whether for their own defense or for opposing counsel. An archive simplifies the process by providing a single store of messages. Without one, companies will find themselves digging through backup media, including tape, as well user PCs to find messages related to the litigation.

No one knows this better than Barracuda. At the time it was putting its archiving product together the company was sued by Trend Micro for patent infringements. The matter has yet to be resolved.