[TriLUG] MS Exchange scheduling component replacement?

[Jon Carnes]

Hi Justin.

I run multiple mail servers, etc out of here and I use sendmail, although I
highly recommend Postfix.  Postfix is a relatively simple MTA, but is also
extremely optimized so that it gives great performance.

After you decide on your MTA, you should look at how you want to serve the
mail to your community/work.  There are three popular formats: pop, imap,
and mapi.
  POP is the simplest to setup and very easy to manage.  This is typically
what an ISP provides to its users for email access.  The server queues up
the mail and then delivers it to the users when they attach.
  IMAP keeps the mail on the server and the users email program synchronizes
with the server in order to download or delete mail.  The key here is that
mail *stays* on the server and the user downloads a copy of it.  Your users
can use the same mailbox from home as they use from work.  The biggest pain
is that all the mail is stored on the server, so you better have a honking
big drive to store it all.
  MAPI is an MS protocol that does mail as well as workflow and scheduling.
MS Exchange and HP Open mail are examples of MAPI servers.  These are
normally costly and hard to setup.  Don't go there unless you're a
professional or a masochist.

If you are truely just starting out and looking to build a mailserver, then
go with an intermediate to easy solution.  Do a straight Mandrake or RedHat
install and choose that you want a mail-server.  Boom: thirty minutes later,
you have a mail-server!

If you choose Mandrake, then you'll get Postfix.  If you choose Red Hat,
you'll get Sendmail.  Either will work just fine!

Now if you want POP or a very simple form of IMAP, install the imap rpm (it
also has both Pop and Imap daemons).
For a more complex and feature rich form of IMAP, install the Cyrus rpm, and
then be prepared to read about 20 hours worth of documentation so that you
can manage a Cyrus mail server properly.

Now for the secret of making your Mail-server work right: make sure your DNS
is properly configured!!!

After your mail-server is up and running and you  have tweaked it to your
hearts content, we'll talk about building a web interface for it.  The first
time I did that, it took about 16 hours, the second time, it took about 6
hours - with a little help you should be able to do it in about 4 hours.

Now for the standard disclaimer - I don't know what I'm talking about, and
I'm an idiot.  Follow my advice at your own peril...

Jon

BTW: you might want to hire a contractor to help you over the rough spots.
Chris Hedemark is an old hand at this, and he might be coerced into visiting
your site and helping out.  Just something to keep in mind if you get
frustrated.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Justin Johnson" <justin at ecotton.com>
To: <trilug at trilug.org>
Sent: Friday, November 30, 2001 3:08 PM
Subject: RE: [TriLUG] MS Exchange scheduling component replacement?


> I don't know if this is the same topic or not, but I am charged with
setting
> up an
> email server for a small company.  I'm assuming this means I need to
support
> SMTP ,
> and POP. It would also be nice to have web interface such that users could
> check
> their mail from whatever machine that may be sitting at. I have been
reading
> through this thread and others, and am guessing I need either qmail,
> weborganizer,
> or Open Mail? Although OpenMAil's uncertain future would make me shy away
> from that.
>
> Please send any suggestions you may have. I'm new to linux, but I'm in a
> shop that is interested in linux and what it can offer. Kind of a blind
> leading the blind kinda deal.
> If I can produce some good results, it may spur more Windows machines
> getting re-formatted
> and reinstalled with linux. And that's a good thing, right?
>
> Thanks,
> Justin
>
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