Re: email servers
On Fri, 2006-03-31 at 10:00 +0800, Rocky Ou wrote:
> On 3/31/06, Ron Johnson <ron.l.johnson@cox.net> wrote:
> On Thu, 2006-03-30 at 14:01 -0700, ChadDavis wrote:
> > Hello.
> >
> > I'm pretty unfamiliar with email servers. I need to install
> a
> > server in my local network to use for development of another
> > application. I just need a mail server available for the
> appli-
> > cation. I read some of the online documentation and became
> a
> > bit confused about what constitutes a server. Postfix is
> on
> > the system. What does it do? I don't think it has anything
> to
> > do with my email client, correct? My email client talks to
> my
> > ISP's POP server for incoming mail, and my ISP's SMTP server
> for
> > outgoing mail. It seems like what I need is a SMTP server
> locally.
> >
> > Is the postfix such a thing? If not, what is an easy one
> to
> > install.
>
> The MTA (Mail Transport Agent) move mail around from place to
> place. Examples are:
> Sendmail
> qmail
> postfix
> exim
> Exchange Server
>
> MUA (Mail User Agent) is the client. Examples are:
> Netscape Mail
> Thunderbird
> Outlook (Express)/Exchange
> Evolution
>
> POP (Post Office Protocol) does exactly that. It emulates
> Post Office Boxes: just as the postal employee puts mail in
> your PO Box, where it waits until you pick it up, so the MTA
> puts mail in your "box" where it waits until your MUA fetches
> it.
>
> IMAP (Internet Mail Access Protocol) is a server-side
> alternative
> to storing emails on your PC. You read the email using an
> MUA,
> but the email stays on the server. Best for companies and
> tra-
> velers. Examples are:
> cyrus-imap
> courier-imap
> dovecot-imap
> uw-imap
> Exchange Server
>
> So, if you want to send emails from box to box (and, of
> course,
> internally) on your LAN, install an MTA on each machine. They
> will have to be configured so that LAN traffic stays on the
> LAN
> and internet mail is sent to your ISP's smtp server.
>
> I recommend fetchmail (a remote mail retrieval and forwarding
> util-
> ity) to get users' POP mail from the ISP and give it to your
> MTA,
> which then gives it to your IMAP server. Thus, all mail stays
> on
> one box, making Sarbanes-Oxley, your Auditors and your users
> (when
> they yell "Find that critical email I blithely deleted last
> week!!"
> very happy.
> First of all, Ron Johnson...thanks very much for very clear
> explaination! you proposed fetchmail. Do I need to install and
> configure it on all the machines?
It depends on how where you want the email to go. Centralized
(easy backups!) or stored on each machine?
> In my work place, only my box is Debian which serves as an internal
> server and all the others are using Windows System.
fetchmail only runs on *ix, so I guess that answers that question.
An issue with fetchmail is that the user POP passwords are all
stored in a (read protected) plaintext file. Since I only use
fetchmail for my family's LAN, it's ok if I know what their POP
passwords are. I wouldn't know how to configure a business to use
fetchmail and keep passwords private.
> Let's say I
> installed MOODLE on my PC and my co-workers signed in as a new
> user for this application. How do I set up my box to send out
> emails to my co-workers for giving confirming instruction?
It's beyond my ability to explain that to a newbie. Sorry.
--
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Ron Johnson, Jr.
Jefferson, LA USA
Why won't GWB have the US invade the DPRK? Because the People's
Army has 11-15,000 artillery pieces within range of Seoul...
Reply to: