A client asked me to reinstall their mail server. Their existing mail server using Microsoft Exchange 2000 on Windows 2000 Server was frequently down. Whenever it was up, it performed badly. It performed so bad that it took minutes just to check mails and learn they have no new mail.
The client gave me a list of features the new mail server should have. It should flag spam mails. It should check for viruses. It should have web access. It should block several types of file attachments. And if I will not be using Microsoft Exchange, it should be integrated into Active Directory since they do not want to maintain two sets of user accounts.
They gave me a free hand on whatever hardware and software to purchase. They leave it up to me to decide if they need to upgrade to Exchange 2003 and Windows 2003 Server, or replace the old IBM Server and maintain the Exchange 2000 and Windows 2000 Server, or use a totally different solution.
After studying their requirements, I discovered I can save them tons of cash while at the same time provide them a reliable mail solution which meets all their requirements using Linux, open source softwares, and off the shelf hardware.
So I implemented the above solution and they where very pleased with the results. They immediately noticed the improvement in response time. Mailboxes were now cleaner with the big reduction in spam mails. Virus problems was now virtually eliminated.
If you like the true story above, welcome to LinuxMail.info. This site is about helping you be able to do the same. I spent several weeks searching the internet and experimenting several configurations to achieve the requirements above using Linux. With this site, you should be able to achieve this in just a few minutes.
Should you need to contact me, you can reach me via email at
consultant(at) linuxmail(dot)info
P.S. In case you’re wondering which web hosting service I’m using, it’s Host Monster and I’m very happy with it.
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Posted on 3/5/2007 and last updated on 6/2/2008
Filed under Uncategorized
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April 22nd, 2008 at 7:09 am
Hi,
I am looking for a solution as follows,
-all user emails will store on PostgreSQL or MySQL database
-Users will authenticated by LDAP or ADS (this site already have it)
-Users will access emails using Dovecot and LADP or ADS (this site already have it)
Rgds,
JAMI
May 9th, 2008 at 2:49 am
This true story of yours sounds very familiar.
=)
Thanks!
jhun
October 1st, 2008 at 11:26 pm
Hi, jhun is right… very familiar and actually we have the same story. We have the same mail server setup running in CentOS 5 + postfix + dovecot + squirrelmail but we are using barracuda spam filter as an smtp server passing to postfix. Very interesting site, very useful and helpful.
thanks,
bugz