Replacement for MS Exchange Server?

[sad69]

We're looking to replace our Windows Server with a Linux Server. Among other things, we're going to need a mail server.

I've found tonnes of mail servers available for Linux, however, I'm looking for one that will interact with Outlook. I'm still trying to get the particulars together (exactly what we do with Outlook that is provided by Exchange and not any other 'generic' mail server), but so far I know that we frequently use the global address books feature.

So I'm just wondering if anyone has replaced their Exchange server with a Linux-based mail server that at least supports the global address book. I'm just looking for recommendations here..

I suppose we'd be willing to pay, but obviously a free mail server is what we're looking for. We're going to be using Outlook 2000 as our main email client, however we'd also like webmail capabilities.

Thanks in advance for your recommendations,
Sadiq.

[sad69]

Just doing some more research on my own.. came across these links if anyone's interested:
http://ask.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/06/30/1743216&mode=thread&tid=109&tid=185&tid=187
http://www.arrayservices.com/projects/Exchange-HOWTO/html/book1.html

The first one is at slashdot, and they are saying that there are some replacements out there, however, none are opensource/free or don't have Outlook connectors (at least half the reason you'd be looking for an Exchange replacement as opposed to a new mail server..).

The second tells you how you can configure your Redhat 6.1 server to act like Exchange.. It supposedly only works on Redhat 6.1 because of some LDAP stuff... (I have a lot of reading to do!)

Anyway, I'm still open to your suggestions.

Thanks,
Sadiq.

[hkucsis]

Hi sad69,

I am looking for a mail server for my windows 2003 machine (the mail server should support POP3 and web-based access).

Have you found any good software?

Thanks.
Michael

[sad69]

So far, Kerio Mail Server looks like a good one. We've been really busy though, so we haven't had much of a chance to test it out and see if it works.

We're hopefully going to be installing the trial version next week. We'll probably be running it on Redhat Enterprise 3 though, and our clients will be running Windows 2000 with Outlook 2000.

Once we've got it all worked out, I'll let you know what I think.

Oracle's Collaboration Suite looked somewhat promising, but it looks like they've got lots of bugs to deal with.

Sadiq.

[scroots]

php can access mail servers on sum description, so you could build a web front end like many sites, and use outlook on the intranet.

scroots

[sad69]

Yes definately a web-interface is great when not in the office, however, we're trying to find a better mail server.

Outlook is a "great" mail client when you look at its functionality and usability, most of this is due to the tight integration between Outlook and Exchange Server. This is the reason it's so hard to find a good Exchange replacement as most groupware mail servers don't interact very well with Outlook. They're getting better, but they use a connector and they're usually buggy.

The reason for moving away from Exchange is because it's too hard/expensive to maintain, and we don't use all the features of Exchange so we're okay to move away from it. We're also trying to move our servers to a Linux environment..

Most Linux mail servers are free, so that's a plus, however, they either don't interact with Outlook well or at all or don't support groupware capabilities. Kerio Mail Server 6 is an exception.. It's mainly a shared address book and some shared folders that are important. The shared calendaring would be cool, but is not something we're using at this time.

The webmail feature is something that would be nice. Exchange does have this feature (or so I've heard) but I've never tested it out..

Anyway, I dunno why I went on about this all just now... :p

Sadiq.

[scroots]

they have exchange server at college, the internet login to your emails is a bit lame. The whole web interface is a bit lame, ive seen much better, as some of the features are pointless or don't work.

scroots