Open Source Case Study: Mail Server

• Open Source Solution:

  • Sendmail running on Linux (Red Hat 9)
  • Mail Policies defined and enforced by MailScanner
  • Spam filtering done using SpamAssassin
  • Virus scanning using Clam (or current Unix version of Licensed Anti-Virus Scanner)
  • Two redunant servers running side-by-side using a Heartbeat fail-over

• Cost:

  • Two server class computers ( $8k )
  • Sixty hours labor ( $4k )

Notes:

This particular client was extremely happy with an earlier Open Source substitution
that I had put on-site that year. As a result they seriously considered replacing
their current external mail router with an all Open Source solution (no software cost,
no licensing fees). Sendmail was their Open Source MTA of choice - they had some limited
experience with Sendmail. I also talked them into using a mail policy application as well
as an Open Source Anti-virus application on the server.
The cost of the cluster implementation was only +$2k more than their annual expenditure
on their current single server and gave them a fully redundant server pair with greater
functionality and no on-going licensing fees.