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IMAP Servers: Delivering A Brave, New Mailbox

By Greg Yerxa E-mail for the enterprise is no longer an option; it's a critical communication medium for most companies, but critical as e-mail is, your e-mail server might not be all it's cracked up to be. With the increased availability of Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP) servers, this may be the perfect time to reevaluate your e-mail platform of choice. IMAP brings many new features to the table that Post Office Protocol (POP) never had. These features make IMAP a viable standards-based alternative to proprietary systems. Given the explosion of the Web, many vendors are bringing out IMAP servers, but which are best?

At Network Computing's University of Wisconsin lab, we tested eight IMAP servers and two of them especially stood out. ISOCOR's N-PLEX Enterprise and Control Data Systems' Rialto IntraStore Server 98 beat the competition with extensive directory services and rich features, including excellent HTML interfaces and extensive security options. Mail veteran QUALCOMM's Eudora WorldMail server was the next best offering, carrying a sleek interface and a Java-based HTML interface that put it ahead of the pack. The ESYS Corp.'s Simeon Message Store 2.0's interoperability makes its case for the Solaris platform.

We tested these servers on Pentium Pro 200s running Microsoft Windows NT version 4.0. The Solaris servers were tested on a SPARCstation 20 running Solaris 2.5.1. We evaluated these products based on management utilities, message policies, security issues and configuration options. Servers with support for various authentication protocols and additional services, such as POP3 and Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) were held in high regard. Web interfaces and management options became too common to ignore and were also weighted heavily.

To view the Report card.
ISOCOR N-PLEX Enterprise
Coming out on top, N-PLEX dominates with its cluster-based approach to Internet services. It is specifically designed to transition existing intranets to the Internet. Noteworthy features include the accompanying Directory Server and Web Gateway for administrators and users. N-PLEX's Management Center offered more options than other mail server management programs. Unlike IMail's management tool, N-PLEX lets you remotely administer servers in your cluster. This functionality includes remote software package installation and management for wide-area clusters. N-PLEX's centralized management adds to its superiority over single server solutions like Eudora WorldMail and Ipswitch Mail.

After we installed the N-PLEX Management Center, we chose to install th e Internet Mail package on the same machine. Then after a few clicks we had added a postmaster account and a few user accounts. When defining accounts, there are many options to custom fit each to its user. You can restrict users' message store space limitations. Access restrictions, such as when a user can check mail and for how long, are unique to N-PLEX and easy to locate. Additional administrator accounts can be created, enabling secure access to all mail server properties.

Satisfied with our user accounts, we installed the Web Gateway and the Internet Directory servers. Although these optional packages are included, but not installed by default, the remote access and information they provide make them a must for a complete Internet server. After the Internet Directory was installed, all user information was automatically added to the directory. Users within the organization, as well as those who are not, can then browse the directory with any LDAP-compliant client. Using Netscape Communicator, we atta ched to the server and retrieved user information for the accounts we created. Unlike with NetTalk, N-PLEX users and administrators can modify directory information from the Web or other LDAP-compatible clients.

To download an Adobe Acrobat .pdf format version of the IMAP Servers features chart, click here.