>From my storehouse of useless knowledge, here (bottom post) are some
previous posts on replacing Exchange.
I haven't looked into this as we aren't ready to take that step at this time
8=(
Some redundancy but it might help..
> -----Original Message-----
>
> From: <jason@pfingstmann.com>
> Subject: Exchange replacement
> Date: Fri, 30 Jan 2004 10:00:18 -0700
>
> Hi,
>
> I have been out voted into having our company switch to using
> Outlook at
> the desktop and a Microsoft Exchange server. (Oh the
> nightmares) We had
> a conversation about this the other day after this was decided and the
> person who made the final decision thought that we NEEDED exchange to
> run Outlook. After explaining to him that you don't need Exchange to
> run MS Office w/ Outlook, he mentioned that he wants to
> switch from the
> web based phpgroupware to using the shared contacts within outlook.
> This is where my problems come in at. I need something that runs on
> Linux that will emulate exchange. I have come across exchange4linux
> along with some pure client side contact sharing solutions.
> After going
> through the installation proceedure for exchange4linux, I
> found out that
> after I loaded the client MAPI plugin for Outlook, that it required a
> key on the server to allow clients to connect (thus costing money per
> seat). I then looked into using public and shared folders in
> IMAP - we
> run UW-IMAP. I created the necessary environment for a public folder
> and got it to work nicely with #public showing in the
> namespace list. I
> can't get Outlook or Squirrelmail to subscribe to it, and outlook
> probably wouldn't allow the creation of contacts in this folder. So
> that solution isn't going to work either. Any other ideas?
>
> Thanks.
>
> Jason Pfingstmann
> Serendipity Technologies, Inc.
> (480) 731-9510
Likewise Samsung Open Mail...
check out Horde project <
www.horde.org>
also, KDE is developing opensource alternative collaboration server at
the behest of the German government.
***
This app never gets any publicity. It's a polished alternative to
Exchange.
http://www.samsungcontact.com/en/
***
Note:
Samsung Contact is the old "HP Openmail" product that HP abandoned.
I've tested it in a production environment, and it's pretty nice.
However - if you have $$$ and want a good non-MS solution, you might want
to check out Oracle Collaboration Suite:
http://oracle.com/ip/deploy/cs/theme_pages/index.html?radicati_tco.html
It's ->AWESOME<-.
Runs on RH Enterprise Linux, uses Oracle 9i on the backend. Sweet.
***
Date: 19 Apr 2003 09:23:02 -0700
Jeremy:
Here's a link to the SuSE Openexchange Server website:
www.suse.com/us/business/products/suse_business/openexchange/index.html
Their website has an on-line demo of the product.
It's basically a portal/email server that performs the
functions of Microsoft Exchange. It's really an Exchange replacement.
There is also a product called Insight Server from Bynari at
www.bynari.net that performs similar functions.
Neither product is free, but SuSE Openexchange Server is cheaper than
Bynari Insight Server and much cheaper than Microsoft Exchange.
The main advantage of using these products is that you get a GUI based
installation and configuration feature. Each product includes some
proprietary features to make installation and configurations less
challenging. If instead, you build your own email server, from Open
Source components, then you are forced to manually edit the config files
or create your own installation and configuration scripts.
So, even in these "budget challenged" times, there is no reason
to tolerate an expensive, unreliable or ineffective email server.
To every professional or business person that I know, email has become
a "mission critical" service. When their email server is down, their
business is down. Running their own email server, allows them to take
control of this important service. It becomes more attractive when you
realize that you don't have to install any additional hardware in your
offices to get these benefits.
However, if you are already running other servers in your offices, then
one more won't be a problem.
Sincerely,
W. E. Brooks
Senior Systems Consultant
WebKnowledge Consultants
Email:
brooksw@webknowledge.com
Web:
www.webknowledge.com
***
Date: Thu, 17 Oct 2002 13:56:57 -0700 (PDT)
From: Scott H <
scottlhenderson@yahoo.com>
Subject: MS2LINUX - some links
To: PLUG <
plug-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us>
Reply-To:
plug-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us
Hi,all. In my quest to replace MS with Linux and
Open Source within a mid-sized corp, I came
across a couple of things I want to pass on.
First, what seems to be a better MS Exchange
server replacement: Bynari's "Insight Server". I
had been looking at "Communigate Pro" from
stalker.com, but this product is still in beta
and has a number of holes left to be filled in.
I've grown frustrated trying to work through the
issues, and waiting for the completed product.
Bynari (bynari.net) offers "Insight Server" and
the "Insight Connector for Outlook" which have
been availiable since May. Insight Server will
run on Intel, and IBM Mainframes. Bynari is
partnering with Alt-N Technologies to produce a
server that will run on Windows, as well.
Insight Server has been through a few versions
and patches already, and seems way ahead of
Communigate Pro. I'll be testing it soon in my
lab.
Second, on Bynari's web site I found an excellent
whitepaper for any MS System Admin considering a
migration from a MS network to a Linux-based
system. It's called "Life after Windows NT
Server 4.0: An Alternative IT Infrastructure".
It's a great explanation of the issues
surrounding such a migration and how to solve
them by going to Linux instead of Win2K and AD:
http://www.bynari.net/Life_After_Windows.pdf
There are other articles discussing MS-Linux
issues and replacing MS Exchange at
http://www.bynari.net/whitepapers.html
***
> There is a commercial (not free but much less $$$ than MS) equivalent
> (Linux) to MS Exchange. (per others)
OpenMail shows promise.
***
Hope this helps
George
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