Possible mail server switch

[Guest Gretchen Hembree]

I know this isn't the right board for this question, but I wasn't sure where

else to go! I am looking for an expert opinion.

 

I have a company of about 30 users who each have two email addresses. For

the last several years we have hosted our own internal email with an MDeamon

mail server software. That is currently on a Windows Server 2003 OS. Once

the mail is checked it is moved and stored on another server that is running

Windows Server 2000 and Exchange 2000.

 

Due to a variety of reasons including occasional MDaemon anti-virus file

corruption and the desire to check email remotely, I am considering a switch

to an external hosting service with POP service.

 

This appears to be a much cheaper option and with the number of users I have

a lot less work on my end. I do have a few questions. One, is this a good

idea? Two, a concern I have is attachments that my users send to each other.

Now they would be traveling outside our network to the external mail

service. Do I need to worry about encryption and decide on a service to use?

Since it was all in house and behind our firewall we have never worried

about that before.

 

Can anyone think of something else I should be considering?

 

Your help and opinion are very much appreciated!!! ~Gretchen

[Guest Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

Re: Possible mail server switch

 

Gretchen Hembree <GretchenHembree@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

> I know this isn't the right board for this question, but I wasn't

> sure where else to go! I am looking for an expert opinion.

 

I'm plenty opinionated, although I can't promise I'm an expert.

>

> I have a company of about 30 users who each have two email addresses.

> For the last several years we have hosted our own internal email with

> an MDeamon mail server software. That is currently on a Windows

> Server 2003 OS. Once the mail is checked it is moved and stored on

> another server that is running Windows Server 2000 and Exchange 2000.

>

> Due to a variety of reasons including occasional MDaemon anti-virus

> file corruption

 

But you aren't wedded to that product, you know - and you ought to run

Exchange aware antivirus even if you're scanning your mail at the gateway.

> and the desire to check email remotely,

 

OWA?

VPN + Outlook?

Upgrade to Exchange 2003 or 2007 and use Outlook Anywhwere (RPC over HTTP)

and Exchange Activesync to windows mobile PDAs?

> I am

> considering a switch to an external hosting service with POP service.

>

> This appears to be a much cheaper option

 

It should be, because it's a significant downgrade ;-).

> and with the number of users

> I have a lot less work on my end.

 

Not necessarily - you're just moving the effort from centralized admin on

your server, to more decentralized desktop work. Trom the client management

side, if you get rid of Exchange, but stick with Outlook, you're going back

to PST files, which *must* sit on the users' local hard drives (it's not

supported to access them across a LAN/WAN connection. You can't sync them to

anything either. (I think PST files are icky).

 

If you use POP, you're downloading the data to your workstations & removing

it from the server - and that's a pain to manage/back up, and not very

useful when people travel as they won't have access to any of their

downloaded mail/sent items/etc.

 

And POP is mail only. So's IMAP. What about calendars/contacts/tasks? Don't

people want to share them, see them in OWA, see them when they travel, etc?

Don't they use distribution groups?

 

> I do have a few questions. One,

> is this a good idea?

 

Well, no, not in my book. But I do think you need to do something as you're

still on E2k... it's limited in functionality and is also out of support

now. If you're in the US, how did you survive daylight savings time?

> Two, a concern I have is attachments that my

> users send to each other. Now they would be traveling outside our

> network to the external mail service. Do I need to worry about

> encryption and decide on a service to use? Since it was all in house

> and behind our firewall we have never worried about that before.

>

> Can anyone think of something else I should be considering?

>

> Your help and opinion are very much appreciated!!! ~Gretchen

 

I'd look into Exchange 2007....if you don't want to host it or manage it

yourself, there are plenty of companies who will provide this at a

reasonable cost. Yes, it's a recurring cost, but you don't have to deal with

the hardware/scanning/backups/whatnot, so it may be cost efficient.

 

The two companies I've been most pleased with are http://www.liveoffice.com and

http://www.mailstreet.net

 

I don't think POP mail (or even IMAP) is sufficient/suitable for a business

environment. If your company is not very reliant on mail or Outlook, then

perhaps this doesn't matter, but I think it's worth the money to do this

right. Just my $.02.

[Guest Gretchen Hembree]

Re: Possible mail server switch

 

Thanks for the response. You have given me a few things to think about.

 

I did set up a trial user on a POP account and yes I did have to move her

exisiting items to a PST file. I was however able to change the file storage

location of the PST to a folder on my server. I think I am gathering from

your response is that is not supported or I am not "supposed" to do that! :)

 

My users don't really use the calendar features of Outlook or share them.

Most of our users log in through RDP or Terminal Server. If I store their

PST file on the server then they can see everything from anywhere that they

log in to their remote desktop.

 

The main way we want to check email remotely is on phone. I have about 5

users that would like to keep up to date on current mail while they are away

from the office. This is new territory for us, but I know my husband checks

his email on his iPhone and I think he uses POP. Is there a better way?

 

I will look into the companies that can host Exchange for us that you

recommended. Do you have a suggestion about security if we do go POP for

mail that used to be just in house and may contain confidential info?

 

Thanks for your input!!! ~Gretchen

 

"Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]" wrote:

> Gretchen Hembree <GretchenHembree@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

> > I know this isn't the right board for this question, but I wasn't

> > sure where else to go! I am looking for an expert opinion.

>

> I'm plenty opinionated, although I can't promise I'm an expert.

> >

> > I have a company of about 30 users who each have two email addresses.

> > For the last several years we have hosted our own internal email with

> > an MDeamon mail server software. That is currently on a Windows

> > Server 2003 OS. Once the mail is checked it is moved and stored on

> > another server that is running Windows Server 2000 and Exchange 2000.

> >

> > Due to a variety of reasons including occasional MDaemon anti-virus

> > file corruption

>

> But you aren't wedded to that product, you know - and you ought to run

> Exchange aware antivirus even if you're scanning your mail at the gateway.

>

> > and the desire to check email remotely,

>

> OWA?

> VPN + Outlook?

> Upgrade to Exchange 2003 or 2007 and use Outlook Anywhwere (RPC over HTTP)

> and Exchange Activesync to windows mobile PDAs?

>

> > I am

> > considering a switch to an external hosting service with POP service.

> >

> > This appears to be a much cheaper option

>

> It should be, because it's a significant downgrade ;-).

>

> > and with the number of users

> > I have a lot less work on my end.

>

> Not necessarily - you're just moving the effort from centralized admin on

> your server, to more decentralized desktop work. Trom the client management

> side, if you get rid of Exchange, but stick with Outlook, you're going back

> to PST files, which *must* sit on the users' local hard drives (it's not

> supported to access them across a LAN/WAN connection. You can't sync them to

> anything either. (I think PST files are icky).

>

> If you use POP, you're downloading the data to your workstations & removing

> it from the server - and that's a pain to manage/back up, and not very

> useful when people travel as they won't have access to any of their

> downloaded mail/sent items/etc.

>

> And POP is mail only. So's IMAP. What about calendars/contacts/tasks? Don't

> people want to share them, see them in OWA, see them when they travel, etc?

> Don't they use distribution groups?

>

>

> > I do have a few questions. One,

> > is this a good idea?

>

> Well, no, not in my book. But I do think you need to do something as you're

> still on E2k... it's limited in functionality and is also out of support

> now. If you're in the US, how did you survive daylight savings time?

>

> > Two, a concern I have is attachments that my

> > users send to each other. Now they would be traveling outside our

> > network to the external mail service. Do I need to worry about

> > encryption and decide on a service to use? Since it was all in house

> > and behind our firewall we have never worried about that before.

> >

> > Can anyone think of something else I should be considering?

> >

> > Your help and opinion are very much appreciated!!! ~Gretchen

>

> I'd look into Exchange 2007....if you don't want to host it or manage it

> yourself, there are plenty of companies who will provide this at a

> reasonable cost. Yes, it's a recurring cost, but you don't have to deal with

> the hardware/scanning/backups/whatnot, so it may be cost efficient.

>

> The two companies I've been most pleased with are http://www.liveoffice.com and

> http://www.mailstreet.net

>

> I don't think POP mail (or even IMAP) is sufficient/suitable for a business

> environment. If your company is not very reliant on mail or Outlook, then

> perhaps this doesn't matter, but I think it's worth the money to do this

> right. Just my $.02.

>

>

>

[Guest Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

Re: Possible mail server switch

 

Gretchen Hembree <GretchenHembree@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

> Thanks for the response. You have given me a few things to think

> about.

>

> I did set up a trial user on a POP account and yes I did have to move

> her exisiting items to a PST file. I was however able to change the

> file storage location of the PST to a folder on my server. I think I

> am gathering from your response is that is not supported or I am not

> "supposed" to do that! :)

 

Correct. It will cause performance problems and likely data corruption. Some

people get away with it for years, but that's like not wearing a helmet

because your motorcycle hasn't crashed yet. With 30 users, you'd be running

with very sharp scissors.

 

See http://support.microsoft.com/?id=297019

and

http://www.exchangefaq.org/faq/Exchange-5.5/Why-PST-=-BAD-/q/Why-PST-=-BAD/qid/1209

>

> My users don't really use the calendar features of Outlook or share

> them. Most of our users log in through RDP or Terminal Server. If I

> store their PST file on the server then they can see everything from

> anywhere that they log in to their remote desktop.

 

Ixnay - bad idea.

>

> The main way we want to check email remotely is on phone. I have

> about 5 users that would like to keep up to date on current mail

> while they are away from the office. This is new territory for us,

> but I know my husband checks his email on his iPhone and I think he

> uses POP. Is there a better way?

 

IMAP if that's all they care about - no contacts, etc. Exchange Activesync

to a Windows Mobile device is superior. iPhones are great for surfing, but

not suitable for corporate mail use. At some point maybe MS and Apple will

work out a deal to license Activesync, but til then, I'd avoid these.

>

> I will look into the companies that can host Exchange for us that you

> recommended.

 

Cool. there are plenty others....try posting in

microsoft.public.exchange.admin for more help with this.

> Do you have a suggestion about security if we do go POP

> for mail that used to be just in house and may contain confidential

> info?

 

It's not secure - and there will not be any "in house" any longer, note.

>

> Thanks for your input!!! ~Gretchen

 

You're welcome. Sorry to come across as the voice of doom, but I fear you're

about to make a great mistake....I don't know your users, but mine would

pitch a fit when they discovered all of the things they could no longer do.

>

> "Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]" wrote:

>

>> Gretchen Hembree <GretchenHembree@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

>>> I know this isn't the right board for this question, but I wasn't

>>> sure where else to go! I am looking for an expert opinion.

>>

>> I'm plenty opinionated, although I can't promise I'm an expert.

>>>

>>> I have a company of about 30 users who each have two email

>>> addresses. For the last several years we have hosted our own

>>> internal email with an MDeamon mail server software. That is

>>> currently on a Windows Server 2003 OS. Once the mail is checked it

>>> is moved and stored on another server that is running Windows

>>> Server 2000 and Exchange 2000.

>>>

>>> Due to a variety of reasons including occasional MDaemon anti-virus

>>> file corruption

>>

>> But you aren't wedded to that product, you know - and you ought to

>> run Exchange aware antivirus even if you're scanning your mail at

>> the gateway.

>>

>>> and the desire to check email remotely,

>>

>> OWA?

>> VPN + Outlook?

>> Upgrade to Exchange 2003 or 2007 and use Outlook Anywhwere (RPC over

>> HTTP) and Exchange Activesync to windows mobile PDAs?

>>

>>> I am

>>> considering a switch to an external hosting service with POP

>>> service.

>>>

>>> This appears to be a much cheaper option

>>

>> It should be, because it's a significant downgrade ;-).

>>

>>> and with the number of users

>>> I have a lot less work on my end.

>>

>> Not necessarily - you're just moving the effort from centralized

>> admin on your server, to more decentralized desktop work. Trom the

>> client management side, if you get rid of Exchange, but stick with

>> Outlook, you're going back to PST files, which *must* sit on the

>> users' local hard drives (it's not supported to access them across a

>> LAN/WAN connection. You can't sync them to anything either. (I think

>> PST files are icky).

>>

>> If you use POP, you're downloading the data to your workstations &

>> removing it from the server - and that's a pain to manage/back up,

>> and not very useful when people travel as they won't have access to

>> any of their downloaded mail/sent items/etc.

>>

>> And POP is mail only. So's IMAP. What about

>> calendars/contacts/tasks? Don't people want to share them, see them

>> in OWA, see them when they travel, etc? Don't they use distribution

>> groups?

>>

>>

>>> I do have a few questions. One,

>>> is this a good idea?

>>

>> Well, no, not in my book. But I do think you need to do something as

>> you're still on E2k... it's limited in functionality and is also out

>> of support now. If you're in the US, how did you survive daylight

>> savings time?

>>

>>> Two, a concern I have is attachments that my

>>> users send to each other. Now they would be traveling outside our

>>> network to the external mail service. Do I need to worry about

>>> encryption and decide on a service to use? Since it was all in house

>>> and behind our firewall we have never worried about that before.

>>>

>>> Can anyone think of something else I should be considering?

>>>

>>> Your help and opinion are very much appreciated!!! ~Gretchen

>>

>> I'd look into Exchange 2007....if you don't want to host it or

>> manage it yourself, there are plenty of companies who will provide

>> this at a reasonable cost. Yes, it's a recurring cost, but you don't

>> have to deal with the hardware/scanning/backups/whatnot, so it may

>> be cost efficient.

>>

>> The two companies I've been most pleased with are

>> http://www.liveoffice.com and http://www.mailstreet.net

>>

>> I don't think POP mail (or even IMAP) is sufficient/suitable for a

>> business environment. If your company is not very reliant on mail

>> or Outlook, then perhaps this doesn't matter, but I think it's worth

>> the money to do this right. Just my $.02.