InformationWeek
Defining The Business Value Of Technology
June 21, 1999
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continued...page 3 of 7
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Beyond basic POP3 and IMAP4 E-mail, what else is included with WorldMail? Mailing lists--boardmembers@company.com, for example--which may include public or restricted posting ability, are a convenient feature and easy to set up and use. Aliases, such as info@company.com, may be set up for users; virtual E-mail domains can also be created.
Users may be defined for encrypted access using the APOP or CRAM-MD5 protocols. An administrator can set a default maximum size of user mailboxes (in kilobytes) and then override that value for specific users.
On the other hand, there's no way to block spam, either by blocking particular incoming E-mail addresses or entire domains--a feature that's becoming increasingly important. However, WorldMail's SMTP mail-relaying capabilities may be limited to certain IP addresses to stop bulk mailers from hijacking the server.
If bare E-mail is all that's required, WorldMail offers a good value for companies with a small number of servers; the $159 entry price includes 10 user licenses. Additional per-mailbox licenses cost from $3.50 to $10, based on volume.
Ipswitch IMail
Ipswitch's IMail 5.02 shows how much a clever developer can do with only a little bit of code. The IMail software came on just four diskettes. Yet it's a complete product, offering many E-mail services such as junk-mail filtering, Web mail access, virtual hosts, and pager and fax gateways.
IMail was extremely easy to install, without referring to the documentation. We particularly liked the fact that it didn't require server reboots and that at the conclusion of the installation procedure it prompted us to create a few initial E-mail accounts--a nice touch that let us get it running quickly.
Once the mailboxes were enabled (for some reason, they're disabled by default), the LAN clients were able to send and receive POP3 and IMAP4 mail instantly. From a Web browser, browsing to a specific port brings up a logon screen, with an intuitive and attractive E-mail interface.
IMail is nearly as easy to administer as it is to install. On the server, there are several administrative applications: one for users, aliases, and trees; one for mailing lists; one for pagers; one for the Web server; and one for users. Then there's a Control Panel application, which handles security and other issues. There are even text files to edit, such as kill.lst for indicating which E-mail addresses and domains should be blocked. Getting all the settings right, particularly for our Internet gateway, took some time and juggling of multiple tools. Consolidation would be a virtue. (There are also a number of command-line utilities that we did not test.)
Remote administration is handled through a separate Windows 95 and NT utility, or via a Web interface, logged on at a different port. Not all features are available remotely. For example, security settings can be changed only through the local control panel. Granted, E-mail servers' security settings shouldn't need to be tweaked very often, but when they do, it may be inconvenient to go to each server's control and run the Control Panel application.
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