Replace your Microsoft Exchange Server instead of upgrading and SAVE $$$
You can now replace your old Microsoft Exchange server with open source KOLAB server. The Kolab server (in conjunction with the Toltec connectors) provides exchange-like functionality without Microsoft Licensing fees. (This would save approximately $8,500 in licensing fees for Exchange server & Windows 2003 server licensing costs.
(Assuming approximately 100 users))
Your organization can continue to use Microsoft Outlook clients (Included with your Microsoft Office, do not need to purchase the outlook seperately.) If you do not use Microsoft Office, there are a number of other email clients that you can use for email access, and you would not need the Toltec Connector, it is only needed to provide interoperability for Microsoft Outlook to play well with other mail programs.
The Kolab server gives you the ability to use Toltec LDAP connector for group (company gloabal user) addresses books with Outlook, most other email clients can be configured without the help of the Toltec LDAP connector.
Toltec connectors (combication of LDAP and KOLAB connectyors) are $21 per user. Users not requiring the group-ware functionality of Microsoft Exchange Server do not need the connector.
Web access can be made through the Horde webmail interface or a number of other webmail programs available, although, users would have access to the company email address book using Horde.
Remote email users can connect through a secure/encrypted protocol.
Virus filtering of email is provided by clam Antivirus. (Open Source, No licensing fees)
Spam protection provided by DSpam and grey-listing. (Open Source, no licensing fees.)
Dspam is a very effective (typically 99%+ accuracy rate after a couple of
weeks) that uses Baysian Statistical Analysys to determine if a message is Spam or Legitimate based on individual users "training" the system by the user.
Missed spam is simply forwarded to user@spam.yourdomain.tld to train.
All messages that are trapped as spam are accessable via a web "quarantine" interface. Messages that are not spam are checked and "released" from the quarantine and arrive at your user's mailbox within seconds.
When messages are corrected, as either Spam or Legitimate email, the filter learns what the individual user considers Spam or legitimate email.
Messages are NEVER "dropped" or "discarded" so there is no chance of a good message being discarded.
Backup of the email server would best be served by a tape backup system, but could also be done to a 3rd hard drive in the system.
Backup of the email system can be acomplished easily using any of a number of open-source tools either to disk or tape, saving hundreds of dollars compared to a commercial backup solution.
Total initial savings in software licensing (not including yearly maintenance renewals if you want to keep up to date on software versions)* would be approximately $7,900 for 100 users.
($10,000 less, but factor in $2,100 for 100 Toltec connectors. There are also options to use other email clients that could save the $2,100 for the Toltec software, but by using Outlook with the toltec connectors the change would be relativly transparent to the end users of most organizations.)
*(Yearly maintenance agreements for Microsoft (not required, but recommended if going with Microsoft solution) would be approximately 40% of initial cost per year, not to mention hardware requirements also often going up substantially as new versions come out.)
For more information or a demonstration of any of the technologies, please
email us.