Re: email recommend -- MIDRANGE-L


I have had as/400 e-mail running for years.  There
used to be problems on the server with mail delivery
getting into a loop, and too many msf jobs running
(the bridge to ov/400).  But I've had no problems
since v4r4. 

That means for over a year the e-mail servers have
required no attention.

For the users, the only drawback is the lack of a
centrally adminstered address book.  IBM says to use
Domino but no one likes the notes client and to use
the address book in Domino you need the notes client. 
(And, you have to buy it.)  Just recently IBM added
support for Outlook clients with Domino so I'll wait
to see how that works.  (You can check your mail with
any client, though.)  I tried using LDAP to create an
address book of sorts but the ldap client in outlook
express is limited (compared to the address book), and
it's terrible in Netscape mail.  Also, getting the
ldap directories updated correctly isn't easy because
all users on the same as/400 are put into the same
group (I forget the ldap terminology).

For administrators, the main problem is a lack of
virus scanning software.  Even Stalker, who has virus
plugins, doesn't have one for the as/400.  Or more
specifically, McAffee doesn't have a plugin for the
AS/400.  I have had this problem with a virus:  An MIS
person (who else has the authority) had a mapped drive
to the as/400.  The drive mapped was to the webserver
directories.  The person got the melissa virus, opened
it not once but a few times - because it didn't do
anything.  Well, it replicated the virus on the ifs by
replacing any .jpg files with the virus.  It didn't do
any damage other than replace the files.  We restored
from backup and were back online within the morning. 
And other mapped drives to other servers got the same
treatment.  

Another problem is mail relay.  The as/400 relays
beautifully.  You can block it from relaying (with a
ptf) but what about home users that you want to allow
access to their e-mail?

So I'm happy with the as/400 e-mail servers.  I would
like to see a lot of enhancements but anything that
runs like the energizer battery makes me happy.

Phil




--- Scott Klement <klemscot@klements.com> wrote:
> 
> It scares me that "400 server" and "NT Exchange" are
> the only
> two options that have come to mind.   
> 
> NT Exchange is an AWFUL e-mail server (at least for
> Internet mail)
> it tends to mess up messages so that only people
> running Exchange
> client or Outlook can read them. :)
> 
> The BEST solution, IMHO, is some variant of UNIX
> running Sendmail
> (or QMail if you dont like Sendmail)   Its far more
> widely used
> than both the AS/400's server and MS Exchange
> combined.
> 
> In fact, until just recently, Microsoft's own
> hotmail.com was
> running on FreeBSD (the variant of Unix that I use) 
> 
> I don't know about the AS/400 mail server to really
> comment on it... 
> I wrote my own E-mail system for the AS/400. 
> (Though its buggy, and
> I keep wishing I hadn't written it... grrr)
> 
> For a small shop -- ISP hosted mail is fine. 
> Especially so if you
> don't feel like having a tech staff.   (Though, with
> either AS/400
> or UNIX you could use TELNET to remotely administer
> the server)
> 
> 
> On Fri, 2 Mar 2001, Jim Franz wrote:
> 
> > Searching the wisdom of the group.
> > Looking for an email server for a number of 
> > small shops. Smallest AS400s, 5-20 users,
> > no technical staff, no one with any network
> > experience, most have no NT.
> > The native mail server scares me (after seeing
> > all the posts here). Thought a 400 server 
> > would be more stable than NT Exchange, or 
> > would they be better with ISP hosted mail?
> > Must be non-tech user maintainable after setup
> > (or am I dreaming)?
> > jim
> > 
> 
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