[WinMac] SUMMARY: E-Mail System Research
Ethan C. Banks(ebanks[at]pcci.edu)
Fri, 16 Oct 1998 16:48:43 -0500
I got a ton of feedback on this post, too many people to mention
individually, although nearly everyone had great input. I went to
the trouble to try all of the clients and servers on both the Mac and
Windows platforms to make a fair assessment of the products. I am
summarizing my findings here because I had several requests from other
listmembers who were facing similar circumstances. This is lengthy,
but I hope worthwhile to interested people. Thanks for all the help.
SUMMARY:
Three scenarios seemed to be possibilities for us: Microsoft Exchange,
Softarc FirstClass Intranet Server, or a standards-based open mail system.
My recommendation for our site was that we migrate our proprietary
QuickMail LAN users to a standards-based Internet mail system. The
reasons are outlined below. Some of the logic is particular to our
needs here, so my conclusions may not be appropriate for your site.
**********************
* Microsoft Exchange *
**********************
Summary: Exchange is Microsoft’s electronic messaging server providing many
standard Internet protocol services such as POP3, SMTP, LDAP, and NNTP.
However, Exchange requires the Outlook client to fully take advantage of its
features. The Outlook client for Macintosh is demanding of the hardware and
lacks many of the features that the Outlook client for Windows has.
* Pros *
- We already use Windows NT Server. Exchange integrates tightly into an
existing NT environment. NT user and group security relate directly to
Exchange mailboxes and public access folders.
- Exchange is powerful; an X.400 directory system is the underlying
structure. With this kind of directory, Exchange can grow
into the foreseeable future by allowing additional Exchange servers to be
added as necessary.
* Cons *
- Exchange’s groupware functionality is proprietary. To use all of its
features, you must use the Outlook client.
- The Macintosh client is weak compared to the Windows client. With the
Mac client, you have a basic mail client that can handle Microsoft rich
text, view public mail folders, and access the Global Address Book. You
cannot share scheduling information, nor are there the additional applets of
an integrated task list, journal, or notes.
- The Macintosh client is fat, with 8MB of RAM allotted to it, and about
4.5MB in use.
- Exchange’s complexity would require the training at least one
person on how to install, configure, and maintain the Exchange server.
- Licenses for Outlook are expensive for non-academic users.
- Exchange requires a gateway to get from an Exchange mailbox to the
Internet and vice-versa. The gateway is built-in.
- The hardware requirements of the Exchange server are high. In my opinion,
for Exchange to run well under a load, a dedicated server with at
least one substantial processor and a minimum of 128MB of RAM would be
needed.
**************************************
* SoftArc FirstClass Intranet Server *
**************************************
Summary: Softarc’s FirstClass Intranet Server is a messaging server that
also handles group project collaboration via document publication on
FirstClass’s built-in web server. The Windows & Macintosh clients are
identical. FirstClass is proprietary.
* Pros *
- The FirstClass client on both Windows and Macintosh appear to be
identical. This would improve Help Desk support of the program.
- The server can be administrated from either a Windows or Macintosh
computer.
- The hardware requirement is low. In my opinion, any reliable Pentium
class machine with 64MB of RAM would do the job on NT; the server can also
run on MacOS.
- The FirstClass client is technically free; you buy the server and then
license connections to the server.
- FirstClass supports simple e-mail forms and a central address book.
* Cons *
- The system is highly proprietary, even more so than Exchange. Although
you can access FirstClass from a POP3 client, to obtain the full
functionality, the end-user must use the FirstClass client.
- Connecting from FirstClass to the Internet and vice-versa requires a
gateway (built-in).
- I have not been able to obtain pricing on FirstClass, and reports from
Internet users indicate that a FirstClass is an expensive solution.
I did look on two nationwide resellers sites (CompUSA and
Amherst Computer Products) that are supposed to carry the SoftArc line, but
searching their sites turned up nothing on the products.
- In my opinion, the user interface is clunky and cluttered. From a Windows
standpoint, it does not feel like a standard Windows application. It
works quite a bit differently, with folders and messages handled in a way
that you get used to, but is somewhat non-intuitive. I would not will the
FirstClass client on anyone, especially users who would be coming from
Outlook or even QuickMail.
- The FirstClass system gives us little that we don’t already have, and
lacks groupware meetings/schedule integration. We already have an intranet
that the departments use to share information.
*********************************
* Standards-Based Internet Mail *
*********************************
Summary: A third option is to upgrade everyone currently on QuickMail LAN to
QuickMail Pro or another generic POP client. We would keep our
existing Internet e-mail server, EIMS, and eliminate the QMLAN server. Our
mail system would then be a standards-based mail system with no proprietary
strings attached.
* Pros *
- The EIMS server talks directly to Internet mail servers via SMTP, without
a gateway.
- QuickMail forms that are in use would be retained for QMPro users.
- Users are free to use any POP-3 e-mail client that they wish, such as
Outlook, Quickmail Pro, Claris E-Mailer, or Eudora without compromising on
functionality.
- CE Software, the QuickMail folks, offer an LDAP directory server that
plugs into EIMS. This could be used as an kind of centralized address book
to verify address validity, if not offer a comprehensive point-and-click
list.
- Staying with a standards-based approach maintains the flexibility
to choose the clients and servers that best meet the needs of the users on
any platform, without being locked into any one thing for an extended
period.
- No additional training is required for DP staff.
* Cons *
- There is no centralized address book with the Internet EIMS server at
present. The LDAP add-on would not be as straightforward to use as a normal
list of users, but may become that simple as LDAP interfaces mature. DP
would still need to send out periodic address book updates to support
QuickMail Pro and Outlook users. This works fine, but requires initiative
on the part of DP to maintain.
- There is no standards-based way to share calendaring and schedule
information yet. This is coming with the iCalendar standard.
ORIGINAL POST:
I am researching a new e-mail system for our mixed Macintosh and Windows
user base.
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:
- Support 500 Mac & Windows clients retrieving/sending 20 messages daily
- Centralized address book
OPTIONAL REQUIREMENTS:
- Forms, such as those provided by CESoft's QuickMail or Microsoft
Exchange
- Groupware functionality for calendar sharing, etc.
We are trying to get away from CESoft's QuickMail LAN/Internet Mail Gateway
package as our needs are beyond its capabilities. Comments on what you are
doing in your cross-platform environment are greatly appreciated.
________________________________________________
Ethan C. Banks - Network Engineer
Pensacola Christian College & Related Ministries
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on Fri Oct 16 1998 - 14:54:52 PDT
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