Re: email servers

On Fri, 2006-03-31 at 10:00 +0800, Rocky Ou wrote:
On 3/31/06, Ron Johnson <ron.l.johnson@xxxxxxx> 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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