Hello Ashley:
I did research based on your specifications. As there are many mail
servers, I had to start from somewhere. I chose the most authoritative
source of information i.e. ‘Server Watch’ at
http://www.serverwatch.com. From there onwards, I did an extensive
research on each of the servers listed on the website. Based on my
research, I came out with the three best mail servers in each
category. In comparing mail servers in each category, I took into
account many factors (industry reviews, customer reviews, awards
received, tests and brand familiarity etc). I allotted points to each
mail server on these factors. I am not going to list the criteria here
because the evaluation criterion is itself extensive. If you need me
to post the criteria of evaluation, I will rather post it as a
clarification.
I didn’t post technical information of individual mail servers.
Instead, I think that you will get a better idea by clicking on the
first link in the industry review (in summary).
I also tried my best to provide you a link to a page which is
specifically designated to ‘features’. I also provided different
contact information both for the support services of the product and
the company itself.
I think the best place to view a brief summary of each many individual
mail servers is http://www.serverwatch.com/stypes/index.php/bWFpbA==
(Mail Server Reviews)
Note: Link for Review is on top of the evaluation Box of individual
mail servers)
Although reviews of ‘Server Watch’ were very helpful with my decision
but they were just a factor of the final decision. Although, I found
out later that there rankings and my review on the performance of
individual servers didn’t vary much.
In two categories, I provided a runner up (meaning that it was almost
almost close).
Following is the result:
________________________________________________________________________________
3 Best High End Mail Servers
________________________________________________________________________________
IMail Server
Company: Ipswitch
Product: IMail Server
Pricing Info: Free, 45-day evaluation release available;
Commercialware - $995 (for 250 users, no service agreement) to $3,190
(for an unlimited number of users, with service agreement).
Contact Info: http://www.ipswitch.com/
Ipswitch, Inc.
10 Maguire Road - Suite 220
Lexington, MA 02421
(781) 676-5700
Product Overview: http://www.ipswitch.com/products/IMail_Server/index.html
Summary of Pro Cons: (please see below)
Product Features: http://www.ipswitch.com/products/IMail_Server/features.html
Support Customer Service: or go to (706) 312-3500
http://www.ipswitch.com/Support/telephone.html
Summary:
Pros>>> Ease of Installation --- We were impressed by how
straight-forward and simple this product behaved during the
installation and configuration (World Watch); It does not need Windows
2000 Domain integration like the newest version of Exchange;
It has various features at a low cost.
Cons>>>No Unix or Mac ports; Not the prettiest interface.
I was unable to figure out any major setbacks in the reviews.
Following are some reviews and other remarks:
Industry Reviews
http://www.serverwatch.com/stypes/servers/index.php/16037
http://www.ccmagazine.com/reviewdetail.asp?ID=14
http://www.egorush.com/article.asp?ID=2861&CatID=1165
Customer Reviews
http://www.epinions.com/ensw-Server_Software-All-IMail_Server/display_~reviews
Testimonials & Awards
http://www.ccmagazine.com/reviewdetail.asp?ID=14
CommuniGate Pro
=======================================
Company: Stalker Software Inc.
Product: CommuniGate Pro
Pricing Info: Professional (50 users) $499; Corporate (200 users)
$999; Enterprise (1,000 users) $1,999; Many more versions and options
(especially for multiple server configurations) are available
Contact Info: http://www.stalker.com
Stalker Software, Inc.
655 REDWOOD HWY, STE 275
MILL VALLEY, CA 94941
U.S.A.
1-800 262 4722
Product Overview: http://www.stalker.com/CommuniGatePro/
Summary of Pro Cons: (please see below)
Product Features: http://www.stalker.com/CommuniGatePro/Features.html
Support Customer Service: 1-800-262-4722 or +1-415-383-7164.
Summary:
Pros>>> True enterprise-level features; It is such as dynamic
clustering and support for multiple platforms; Fast & Efficient ; Easy
Administration; Powerful Options; Portable; Affordable; Webmail; All
Standards
Cons>> Weak logging; minimal firewall support; Documentation; Some
Password set ups.
Although a 4 star rating by Server Review but I found great customer
satisfaction form a great many number of users. Following are some
reviews and other remarks:
Industry Reviews
http://www.serverwatch.com/stypes/servers/index.php/16029
http://www.linuxjournal.com/article.php?sid=3436
http://www.unixreview.com/documents/s=1353/urm0107e/
http://www.linuxworld.com/linuxworld/lw-1999-04/lw-04-penguin2.html
Customer Reviews
http://www.versiontracker.com/php/userReview.php?id=4207&db=macosx&page=all
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/5884 (see right side)
http://www.epinions.com/ensw-Server_Software-All-CommuniGate_Pro_Messaging_Server/display_~reviews
MailSite
=======================================
Company: Rockliffe Software
Product: MailSite
Pricing Info: Free 30-day evaluation. Commercial software -- 50
mailboxes, $595; 100 mailboxes, $995; 500 mailboxes, $1,495
Contact Info: http://www.rockliffe.com
1901 South Bascom Ave, Suite 1160
Campbell, CA 95008
USA
1-408-879-5600
Product Overview: http://www.rockliffe.com/products/mailsite/
Summary of Pro Cons: (please see below)
Product Features: http://www.rockliffe.com/products/mailsite/specs.asp
Support Customer Service: 1-408-879-5600 (Emergency or quick response)
Summary:
Pros>>> SQL; ODBC; IMAP4; and list server support; highly scalable;
remote Web administration.
Cons>>> Lacks LDAP support; limited security functionality; relatively
expensive.
If I had to make a difficult decision on choosing among the three,
this would be my choice.
Industry Reviews
http://www.serverwatch.com/stypes/servers/index.php/16043
http://thewhir.com/marketwatch/active627.cfm
http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/index.cfm/go/software.view/product/468
http://www.networkcomputing.com/1004/1004sp3.html
Customer Reviews
http://www.epinions.com/content_53569752708
Testimonials & Awards
http://www.rockliffe.com/products/awards/
1-Runner Up
=========================================
FTGate Pro at http://www.ftgate.com
What others say:
http://www.ftgate.com/content/121.htm
http://tucows.mundofree.com/winnt/mailservernt.html
________________________________________________________________________________
3 BEST MID TIER MAIL SERVERS
________________________________________________________________________________
Merak
Company: IceWarp Software
Product: Merak
Pricing Info: Lite: $99 (1 domain, 12 users; Standard: $280 (unlimited
domains and users; Professional: $960 (unlimited domains and users)
Contact Info: http://www.merakmailserver.com
6125 Algona Court
Complex B
Suite 100
Alexandria, VA 22310
1 (703) 960.2500
Product Overview: http://www.merakmailserver.com/Products/Merak_Mail_Server/
Summary of Pro Cons: (please see below)
Product Features: http://www.merakmailserver.com/Products/Merak_Mail_Server/merak_mail_detail_list.asp
Support Customer Service:
http://www.merakmailserver.com/Support/Mail_Support
Summary:
Pros>>> League-leading value
Cons>>> Its minimalist nature means a lot of work for the server
administrator, user management is largely manual.
The best of quality and price.
Industry Reviews
http://www.serverwatch.com/stypes/servers/index.php/16181
Customer Reviews
http://www.epinions.com/ensw-Server_Software-All-MERAK
http://www.teplanet.com/software/viewcomments.asp?prodid=514
Testimonials & Awards
http://www.icewarp.com/Testimonials/ (see bottom left side)
MDaemon
==========================================
Company: Alt-N Technologies
Product: MDaemon
Pricing Info: From $330 for a six-user license to $1,980 for an
unlimited-user license
Contact Info: http://www.altn.com/
Alt-N Technologies, Ltd.
2201 East Lamar Blvd, Suite 270
Arlington, Texas 76006
(817)525-2005
Product Overview: http://www.altn.com/products/default.asp?catalog%5Fname=Products&category%5Fname=Software&product%5Fid=MDaemon
Summary of Pro Cons: (please see below)
Product Features: http://www.altn.com/products/features.asp?product%5Fid=MDaemon
Support Customer Service: (817) 525-2005 for technical support of all
products. For Individual support, you will have to fill a form.
Summary:
Pros>>> A very complete system scalable for enterprise-level use,
combined with a very large number of mail control features.
Cons>>>> Needs more help for administrators without mail server
experience; Security functionality could be better.
It is certainly one of the best ever in the market.
Industry Reviews
http://www.serverwatch.com/stypes/servers/index.php/16027
Customer Reviews:
http://www.epinions.com/ensw-Server_Software-All-MDaemon
Testimonials & Awards
http://www.altn.com/products/reviews.asp?product_id=MDaemon
http://www.ccsoftware.ca/mdaemon/reviews.cfm
MailMax
==============================================
Company: SmartMax Software
Product: MailMax
Pricing Info: $399 for 10 users to 1,499 for an unlimited number of
users Details here
Contact Info: http://www.smartmax.com
Southern Hills Tower
2431 E. 61st Street, Suite 307
Tulsa, Oklahoma 74136-1231
USA
877.624.5629
Product Overview: http://www.smartmax.com/mailmax.aspx
Summary of Pro Cons: (please see below)
Product Features: http://www.smartmax.com/mm5tour.aspx
Support Customer Service: 918.496.8103
Summary:
Pros>>> Multihoming capabilities, Advanced local and remote
administrative tools, Excellent anti-spam tools, Inexpensive price
tag, Intuitive and easy-to-use administrative graphical interface.
Cons>>> Lacks IMAP4 and LDAP support; Heavy reliance on Windows NT;
No UNIX/Macintosh versions.
It has claimed various awards from the industry.
Industry Reviews:
http://www.serverwatch.com/stypes/servers/index.php/16041
Customer Reviews:
http://download.com.com/3302-2369-10175052.html
Testimonials & Awards:
http://www.smartmax.com/mmawards.aspx
Tucows Rating:
http://tucows.mundofree.com/adnload/2737_29837.html
1-Runner Up
===========================================
Post.Office at http://www.openwave.com
What others say:
http://www.epinions.com/ensw-review-5C6D-7F8A3B7-39DB4F8F-prod1
http://philip.greenspun.com/wtr/post-office.html
________________________________________________________________________________
Free OR Inexpensive Mail Servers
________________________________________________________________________________
QMail Mail Server
Company: qmail
Product: QMail Mail Server
Pricing Info: Freeware
Contact Info: http://cr.yp.to/qmail.html
Product Overview: http://cr.yp.to/qmail.html
Summary of Pro Cons: (please see below)
Product Features: http://cr.yp.to/qmail.html (scroll below)
Support Customer Service: http://cr.yp.to/qmail/faq.html
Summary:
Pros>>> Fast; Free; Secure; upgrade path from sendmail
Cons>>>> slightly complicated; Not much Industry reviews
After much search, I couldn’t find many reviews. Although, whatever
there was, it suggested that this is a very good choice.
Industry Reviews+
http://www.serverwatch.com/stypes/servers/index.php/16253
http://homepages.tesco.net/~J.deBoynePollard/Reviews/UnixMTSes/qmail.html
Message Board:
http://www.ornl.gov/cts/archives/mailing-lists/qmail/2001/09/msg00318.html
MailStudio 2000 *(The website is down, I will post relevant answers in
time)
===========================================
Company: 3R Soft
Product: http://www.mailstudio.com
Pricing Info: Commercialware: Basic price is $10 per user with a 50
user minimum
Contact Info: (Website down)
Product Overview: http://www.mailstudio.com/products
Summary of Pro Cons: (please see below)
Product Features: (Website Down)
Support Customer Service: (Website Down)
Summary:
Pros>>>> Low cost; High performance; Good documentation; Flexible
Cons>>>> Complex installation; somewhat insecure; flickers
Again, lack of customer reviews but various industry awards.
Industry Reviews
http://www.serverwatch.com/stypes/servers/index.php/16197
http://www.linuxjournal.com/article.php?sid=3702
Testimonials & Awards
http://jp.3rsoft.com/homepage/jpn/review.html
Eudora WorldMail Server
==============================================
Company: Qualcomm
Product: Eudora WorldMail Server
Pricing Info: Free demo evaluation release. Commercialware - $159
Contact Info: http://www.eudora.com
Product Overview: http://www.eudora.com/products
Summary of Pro Cons: (please see below)
Product Features: http://www.eudora.com/email
Support Customer Service:
http://www.eudora.com/email/features/index.html
Summary:
Pros>>>> Intuitive interface, easy to install and use, inexpensive,
solid feature-set/performance.
Cons>>>> Windows only, lacks advanced security technology and some
features in the competition.
Considering a low price tag, it is a reasonably good investment.
Industry Reviews
http://www.serverwatch.com/stypes/servers/index.php/16061
http://www.nwfusion.com/reviews/1130imaps.html
I hope this will help. I tried to work with best of my abilities.
Thanks for asking. Please clarify if you need the evaluation method.
Sincerely,
leader-ga |
