Linux Exchange server replacement.

Paul Lussier p.lussier at comcast.net
Fri Jun 15 12:44:02 EDT 2007


"Ben Scott" <dragonhawk at gmail.com> writes:

> On 6/15/07, Drew Van Zandt <drew.vanzandt at gmail.com> wrote:
>> PostPath says it's a wire-level reverse-engineer, so no PST files.
>
>   Ohhhh... shiny.
>
> /me moves "Look at PostPath" up a few notches on my to-do list
>
> (Unfortunately, that still means "Possibly not within this decade."  ~sigh~)

If even a portion of following is true, I'd be an extremely happy sysadmin:

    The server's high performance (compared with Exchange) and
    ease-of-backup enables the use of low-cost storage, server
    consolidation, and significantly larger user data-stores so that
    PST-file use can be reduced or eliminated. Also, the server's
    flexible translation between Microsoft (ESTMP) and standard (SMTP)
    email transports, together with a highly configurable PostFix mail
    transport agent (MTA), enables the use of standards-based
    virus-filters and archiving systems, eliminating the need for
    Outlook journaling or proprietary APIs.


Somethings to note:

 - High performance as compared to Exchange is not difficult to achieve :)
 - Ease of backup is a major win compared to Exchange
 - Reducing or eliminating PST file use is huge
 - Eliminating the need for Outlook journaling and the use of MS APIs is huger
 - The acknowledgement of the use of Postfix (or any mainstream open
   source MTA) is a great endorsement
 - The actual use of a mainstream MTA means we can probably tweak this
   thing to our heart's content!
 - There is no mention of IMAP capability, nor of calendaring, yet
   they claim "Drop-in, plug-compatible replacement". (There is a POP3
   server though)
 - They do discuss the ability to work with both an existing AD
   server, and Blackberry server.
 - The admin manual has details on backing up via tar, dump, xfsdump,
   legato7, fs, and Symantec BackupExec, which means that Bacula and
   AMANDA should work just fine.

After looking over their FAQ (which is available only as a PDF
  http://static.postpath.com/gems/apptranMain/PostPathFAQv04.pdf
and their Admin Guide
  http://static.postpath.com/gems/apptranMain/PostPathAdminGuide.pdf

I'm left with some conflicting thoughts.  I think it's great they've
got this product, and I think not having to deal with Exchange is
great.  However, there is no Exchange<->PostPath Feature comparison.
Calendaring is HUGE in the MS world.  MS users can not live without
it.  Yet, there is no mention of this one killer feature of Exchange
that I found.

Next, all the documentation seems to be geared those used to managing
Exchange, and therefore assumes little to no Linux, UNIX, or FOSS
familiarity.  Yet there is no mention of which e-mail clients PostPath
is compatible with other than Outlook, and there is no mention of how
a non-Windows desktop (Mac, Linux) could or should connect to the
PostPath server.

Their FAQ is hardly useful[1], their Admin Guide seems not bad.  But
there are still a lot of unanswered questions, like, what if I'm in a
non-windows environment and want to provide an Exchange-like service ?
Can I do that?  If so, what client-side software is compatible?

Can I use a combination of IMAP client and Web-browser to deal with
e-mail and calendaring?  Will Evolution work?  Does it need the
Exchange Connector software, or is that unnecessary?

So, at this point, I think what they have is something that probably
works really well as an e-mail server for Outlook-based clients, is
far easier to back up. And in some ways that alone is a major win.
However, I'm left with the feeling that this product is more for
people who don't know and understand e-mail beyond the level a
point-n-click than those of us who have pulled our hair out tweaking
sendmail.cf and making postfix jump through hoops over the years.
-- 
Seeya,
Paul


[1] A FAQ from a commercial entity which is mostly useless is not a
    surprise.  Commercial entities seem to treat the concept of a FAQ
    as "Questions we'd prefer to answer for you, but you're not likely
    to actually ask because you really don't care about *these*
    questions.  But we need to provide something to make you feel like
    we've been honest and upfront so you don't notice we're lying
    through our teeth."


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