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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...



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