When working with Exchange Server 2007 or newer, disabling a mailbox is a fairly common operation. However, the Technet documentation has no details about the side effects of disabling a mailbox. This is all it says.

"This task removes all the Exchange attributes from the user object in Active Directory. Based on the deleted items retention policy, the Exchange store will retain mailbox data for the user object."

Source: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb123730(v=exchg.141).aspx

But is that all? Exchange mailboxes in the real world tend to be highly interconnected. Perhaps the boss has delegated calendar control to a secretary. Maybe a team of staff members all share access to a public folder. Perhaps a power user has been granted the ability to receive email at several different addresses. Two clear questions come to mind.

• What happens to links between mailboxes after a mailbox is disconnected?
• Can the Disable-Mailbox operation be easily undone?