MailSite 3.3.1
MailSite implements SMTP with extensions, POP3, IMAP4, and LDAPv3. The product implements secure client access with APOP, AUTH, and AUTHORIZE for client support. The product is an enhanced version of Freeware IMS, which the European Microsoft Windows NT Academic Centre (EMWAC) developed. (EMWAC is a consortium that Microsoft UK, Research Machines, and the University of Edinburgh support.) MailSite supports several mailbox types that each use a different source for user IDs and passwords. You use a MailSite-specific password that the software stores in the NT Registry to access a Registry Mailbox. You use an NT user ID and password from the NT accounts database on the MailSite server to access an NT Mailbox. Database Mailboxes are an optional feature that lets an organization control access to mailboxes with user IDs and passwords that the software stores in an ODBC-compliant database. You must purchase Database Mailboxes separately.
MailSite has an integrated list server. You can extend MailSite's functionality by using Agents, which are programs or .bat files that run when MailSite modules process messages.
The product's Domain Name Synonym function is useful for companies that have multiple domain names and users who work within the context of several domain names. You can configure synonym domains in your main mail domain so that mail addressed to you@synonymdomain.com is delivered to you@maindomain.com. Other mail systems require you to define such aliases at the user level. The Domain Name Synonym feature saves a lot of administrative work, especially when you consider how much effort is necessary to define email aliases for each user in each domain name.
Installation. MailSite was the easiest to install of the six systems I tested. Rockliffe distributes the software on CD-ROM in a 6.7MB setup.exe file. The installation process lets you specify one location for Program and Documentation files and another location for the Spool file directory, in which MailSite temporarily stores mail in transit. After you enter the license key and specify whether MailSite services start automatically when the system boots, installation proceeds to completion. The installation process doesn't tell you that the default path for mailboxes—in which the software stores all user mail—is where you told MailSite to place the Program and Documentation files. However, you can use the Domain Properties page of MailSite Administrator to easily specify a different location for mailboxes. Rockliffe implements MailSite as a set of seven services under NT. The services comprise one service each for POP3, IMAP4, LDAP, and HTTP support; one service for incoming SMTP mail; one service for outgoing SMTP mail; and one service that supports remote management via the MailSite and Java consoles.
Documentation. The software ships with an easy-to-use spiral-bound MailSite Administration Guide and Windows Help files (on CD-ROM) for installation and administration. An electronic version of the Administration Guide in Word format also ships on the installation CD-ROM. The manual is thorough, easy to use, and clearly describes installation and administration tasks and procedures, MailSite architecture, and troubleshooting.
Configuration and management. You can install the MailSite Console, the product's primary, Windows-based, management console, on remote machines to remotely manage MailSite. In addition to the MailSite Console, you can use the software's Java Console and Web Console to manage mailboxes and mailing lists. Both the Java Console and the Web Console make use of MailSite's built-in Web interface, which I accessed by pointing my browser to port 90 on the MailSite server. The Web Console lets users change their password (including NT account passwords for NT mailbox users), forward their mail to another email account, and set up an automatic reply to incoming mail messages. Systems administrators can manage user mailboxes and mailing lists via either Web interface. Mailing list moderators can use the Web Console to approve list messages and manage list membership.
For activities other than mailbox or mailing list management, you must use the MailSite Console, which Screen 4 shows. Unlike other SMTP servers, MailSite offers no facility for performance tuning; you can't set a maximum number of concurrent connections or active threads. However, this limitation also made MailSite the easiest of the six products to get up and running.
Using MailSite to add user mailboxes based on existing NT domain accounts couldn't be easier. I used the MailSite Administrator program to select the Mailbox item under the default NTLAB.COM mail domain I created during installation. Until I selected the Mailbox item, which displays existing mailbox names, the Mailbox menu item Create New was dimmed. I was annoyed that I had to select the Mailbox item before I could use the Create New menu item. I assume that the reason for this extra step is that MailSite needs to know which domain you are creating a mailbox in. However, the program could handle this situation more flexibly, rather than leave inexperienced administrators wondering why the Create New menu item is not available. After you select Create New, NT Mailboxes, MailSite displays an NT domain user account list, with an option to display groups defined in the domain. Selecting one or more user accounts or groups lets you quickly create mailboxes for each selected user or member of a selected group.
I discovered one glitch in MailSite's operation. When creating an NT Mailbox, MailSite displays a list of local machine and domain accounts to choose from. When accounts with the same name exist in both the domain accounts database and the local accounts database, MailSite displays only the domain account. However, if a user tries to access the mailbox, MailSite requires the password to the local machine account.
An easier way to create NT Mailboxes exists. You simply create an NT local or domain group and configure the MailSite NT Mailbox plugin to create a mailbox for each member of the selected group. MailSite will check the group for any unresolved email addresses within the mail domain and automatically creates a mailbox the first time the user receives a message, or the first time the user attempts a POP or IMAP connection.
POP, IMAP, and Web access. When I used Outlook Express and Eudora Pro to test POP and IMAP access, I was able to send and receive mail, create IMAP folders, and move mail between IMAP folders. MailSite doesn't include a Web-based client to send and receive email.
MailSite became confused when the software accessed an NT mailbox based on a user ID that both the domain account database and the mail server's local accounts database defined. When you create NT mailboxes, if both a domain and a local machine account with the same name exist, MailSite displays the icon for a domain account but will use the local account's password to authenticate access to the mailbox. This situation can create confusion when the same user ID exists in the local machine accounts database and the domain database with different passwords.
List-server features. MailSite includes a powerful and flexible list-server feature that forwards messages sent to the email address of the list to each list member. The software supports moderated and unmoderated lists. You can configure mailing lists to reflect each message to the list members as the message arrives, or to collect messages and send them periodically (i.e., digest mode). In addition to letting users send subscribe and unsubscribe requests to the mailing list's email address, MailSite lets the systems administrator create mailing lists based on membership in an NT domain or local group, database query, or local server membership. A text-file based mailing list is another MailSite feature that lets you create and maintain a mailing list that you base on information external to the mail system.
Performance. MailSite's peak performance of 76.88tps at the 800-virtual-user level was the highest I measured in this group, but the transaction rate dropped markedly as I added more users. MailSite is completely self-tuning. The product can cope with a high volume of incoming mail while letting the local delivery queue accumulate messages for processing after the incoming load subsides. Overall, MailSite is an excellent performer.
Final valuation. MailSite has a lot going for it—a good feature set that includes LDAP support, a great remote-management facility, and top performance. Add to those benefits the lowest cost in this product group for larger organizations. Even though MailSite lacks a Web-based mail client, the product is a great value.
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