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It is becoming more and more common that when an e-mail server goes down, an enterprise’s entire communication infrastructure goes down. With many places using e-mail as their “official” means of communication, it’s no huge leap to realize that when the mail servers go down, communication stops dead in its tracks. In some cases some people actually don’t know what to do and have no other means of communication. One could go so far as to say that e-mail has brought the world into a new era of easy-to-use and instant communication between two people in the next cubicle, country, or continent. However, this instant communication carries with it the drawback of needing high availability to keep a business viable.
With e-mail the official means of communication for many enterprises, a secure mail server is no longer a “nice-to-have” feature, but rather a requirement. GLMail from Gordano is one Linux-based option that stacks up well in this regard.
With such a high demand placed on the uptime of the e-mail server, it is no wonder that many IT decision makers are turning to the Unix platform to run their mail server software, since it is known to have a higher percentage of uptime in the field.
As with any Unix-type software package, GLMail from Gordano offers considerable advantages in security and stability that set it apart from other mail servers. GLMail runs on many different distributions of Linux; there are even versions of the software for Win32 and Solaris machines. GLMail also supports the majority of standard e-mail and support protocols in existence today.
Security is a big concern, especially if it’s an enterprise’s official communication; e-mail isn’t as easily shredded as paper memos are. There is no use in implementing any sort of security if passwords can be cracked in a few minutes.
That’s why GLMail features the capability to allow administrator to set password complexity rules. The maximum number of times a letter occurs, minimum length, and the requirement of a digit, letter or symbol can be set. Users can be required to change their password after a certain amount of days. If they do not, their password will be automatically changed, and they must contact an administrator to unlock the account. Messages are not only vulnerable in the mailbox, so GLMail as provided the capability to encrypt message during transfer using SSL across all services provided.
Not only is the security of the accounts important, but the server itself is also. GLMail provides for the changing of each specific port that services use: POP3, SMTP in, SMTP out, IMAP4, Finger, and PASSWD. Relay protection can be turned on or off to fit the needs of the implementation. IP addresses of machines that are allowed to claim to be part of the local domain, and therefore are allowed to relay e-mail through the SMTP server, can be specifically specified.
When the e-mail server does go down, it can be an IT administrator’s worst nightmare, especially when there is a large user base. An innovative feature in GLMail provides for all configuration data to be compressed and e-mailed to an off-site account for safety purposes on a regular basis.
Because of these excellent security features, we believe GLMail is a good fit for organizations seeking an enterprise class mail server.
Pros: 7 Unix Based; 7 Formidable Security
Cons: 7 Runs on harder-to-administer operating system
Version Reviewed: 7B
Reviewed by: M.A. Dockter
Date of Original Review: 2/27/02
