Instant Messaging server stores the following data used by Instant Messenger in the database directory (im-db-base), and is indicated by the iim.instancevardir parameter in iim.conf:
End user properties, such as contact lists, messenger settings, subscribed news channels and access control (alternatively, these properties can be stored in LDAP).
News channel messages and access rules.
Alert Messages that are to be delivered. These messages are delivered and removed when the recipient logs in.
Public conferences. This does not involve instant messages which are not persistent, but only properties of the conference objects themselves, such as access rules.