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Date:      Thu, 11 Apr 2002 13:47:56 +0200
From:      Clemens Hermann <haribeau@gmx.de>
To:        Odhiambo Washington <wash@wananchi.com>
Cc:        freebsd-isp@freebsd.org
Subject:   Re: CUSTOM BUILT SERVERS
Message-ID:  <20020411134756.A913@idefix.local>
In-Reply-To: <20020411112142.GE90954@ns2.wananchi.com>
References:  <20020411112142.GE90954@ns2.wananchi.com>

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Am 11.04.2002 um 14:21:42 schrieb Odhiambo Washington:

Hi Wash,

it's not completely clear to me if you are only looking for an email-solution or
also apache config etc.
So I'll just reply for e-mail for now :).

> 1. Runs on BSD (FreeBSD most preferred)

all MTA'S I know of that run on *NIX do run on FreeBSD 

> 2. Has support for virtual domains

this should also be possible at most perhaps every MTA. Postfi'x and qmail 
have good solutions I know of. 

> 3. Robust support for aliasing

also true for all "mainstream" MTAs :)

> 4. GUI/Web Interface that will allow a mere 'operator' to manage it

I like omail-admin very much. It has a great bunch of options and is easy to
use. You can delegate different domains to different admins. The only drawback:
You need a per-domain login so you have to logout and then login again if you
want to configure different domains. But this is done in a second.

omail-admin is on top of qmail/vmailmgr which are also both very good packages.
qmail has this license-issue (no license at all) but I think most people can
live with this.

> 5. Gives webmail access to both 'real' and 'virtual' users

this does not depend on the MTA. I would recommend imap-based webmail (not pop3)
or directly accessing the mail-folder like omail-webmail does it (very fast, few
overhead).
My favourites are horde-imp and squirrelmail.

> 6. Allows strict relay controlling?

you mean smtp-auth/smtp-after-pop and IP-based relaying? postfix/qmail also 
offer this, Exim and sendmail probably also.

> 7. Flexible MTA (Exim preffered)

didn't you talk about security? Exim is not considered the most secure MTA
e.g. because of its all-in-one architecture. qmail and postfix are more
modular and so by design less vulnerable. Furthermore the performance of
the latter is often said to be very good (especially in comparison to sendmail).

> 8. Actively developed/supported

qmail and postfix are, donno about the other. 

> 9. Possibly bundled with LDAP-based services

qmail-ldap is available and seems to work great. It adds many functions to stock
qmail and also has a web-interface for stuff. This interface even allows to
login once and configure all domains without logoff/logon. 

> 10. Cost effective

the software I was talking about is all free but it will take time to get into
the subject. 

> 11. Can interface with a proprietary system like EXTENT RBS??

donno about this. What is it?

> My boss suggests we buy something like that (bundled messaging server).

I don't like these out-of the box windows-like solution. They don't offer
the same flexibility as a custom configured setup. The never fit your needs as
a setup where you selected the parts.
Finally you have to learn your system anyway as admin. 

> This would 'free' me from having to worry so much about Exim, virtual
> domains, courier-imap, 

but it might force you to stay at a once bought system and it would also take
away all the positive apects of freedom from you :)

> What advise do you have for me on this? Anything that you can recommend
> will be appreciated.

I have been usind qmail/vmailmgr/omail-admin/omail-webmail for a good while 
and it has served me very well. I 'll change to imp soon but the rest keeps as
it is.

hth

/ch

-- 
"Contrary to popular belief, Unix is user friendly.
It just happens to be selective about who it makes friends with."

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