Re: Mail

[Fraser Farrell <fraser@trilobytes.com.au>]

Thomas Droege wrote:
> This again leads me to plead for suggestions for a better mail server.  My
> most critical requirement is that it have a built in way to back up the
> mail archive.  Rob had a suggestion which is of course lost with the
> archive.  At the time it would not run on my machine which was running
> Mandrake 9.0.  I now have several machines running 9.1 and have 9.2 on the
> way.


Tom,

A couple of possibilities:

 (1) Use IMAP instead of POP3 for mail. Practically all email clients support 
it and many ISPs offer it. The difference is that IMAP email stays on your 
ISP's server, where (hopefully) it gets backed up regularly without your 
intervention.

 (2) If your mail is on a Linux computer, use rsync to copy the mail files 
across to a second computer. Or if the second computer runs Windows, use 
samba to join its "network neighbourhood" and copy the files.

Many tape backup units nowadays work in Linux and some manufacturers include 
shell scripts and software.


A third possibility is to run your own mail server. This does not require a 
powerful computer. I've got many small business clients on permanent ADSL or 
ISDN, running their company email & website (and internet gateway) from a 
fast 486 or old Pentium. My own mailserver was considered too slow for MS 
Office 97 by its former owner, but it runs the ~90 email accounts here quite 
well.


Incidentally, did your email collection exceed 2GB in size? Most versions of 
Outlook / Outlook Express will cack themselves if this happens, destroying 
all of your email. Which is stored in one proprietary-format file.

Most other email programs store messages in text files, but if an individual 
file exceeds 2GB it may get truncated. Something to do with a hardcoded file 
pointer limit in Windows, if I remember correctly?


cheers,


-- 

Fraser Farrell

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