Review: E-Mail For Tight Budgets
For this review, CRN Test Center engineers deployed the full GMS solution, including secure e-mail, instant and SMS messaging, personal and shared calendars, antivirus and antispam scanning and archiving. The suite was installed on a VMware server running on a Compaq Athlon 64 3800 with 1 Gbyte of RAM.
Gordano promises two things: first, that GMS is platform-independent, and second, that it does not require a brand-new box with the newest and the best hardware components. To test the first claim, engineers installed Linux, selecting Ubuntu 6.10 rather than commercial packages such as SUSE, Red Hat or Xandos. Ubuntu 6.10 (Edgy) has glibc-2.4, and engineers requested appropriate build files. The Compaq desktop used was repurposed to test the second premise.
GMS consists of the base mail system, GMS Mail, GMS WebMail, Calendar, Anti-Virus, Anti-Spam, Instant Messenger, Mobile Gateway, an accessory pack, a communication server and a list server.
GMS Mail offers extended POP3 and IMAP4 commands and advanced session management tools. GMS WebMail lets users connect to the system through a Web browser instead of an e-mail client. The interface varies with usage, beginning with a full-featured one, for example, that works just like Outlook to a limited one for users on restricted bandwidth or handheld devices. Calendar allows users to set appointments and to view and manage other users' schedules, depending on access rights. Anti-Virus and Anti-Spam scan messages to detect and delete malware. Viruses can be returned to sender, rejected, cleaned or quarantined. Spam messages can be rejected, accepted or deleted (so the user never sees them), or quarantined. Attachments can also be blocked. Instant Messenger and Mobile Gateway allow users to send IM and SMS messages. The Communication Server, List Server and accessory pack offer list management and database tools as well as sample codes and interfaces. The base mail system can support a variety of mail protocols and provides Groupware support for Outlook 2002, XP and 2003. HTTP/FTP Proxy Internet services include SSL, HTTP and HTTPS on the domain or user level.
Next: The Bottom LIne Initially, the software was difficult to install because of an error in the MX record, but once corrected it quickly installed. The MX record tells the network which server to route e-mail messages to for a particular domain. The installation process consists of a script requesting user input, such as domain name, path to write the files, what components to install and open port numbers in the firewall. With the exception of the domain name, default options were accepted. Once installed, the system was configured.
While GMS supports mail relay, it is disabled by default. Similarly, the proxy server is disabled out of the box. GMS incorporates bounds checking, and also monitors traffic levels to pre-emptively find any unusual activity. SSL encryption is enabled for all services. All the administration is done through a Web browser. Engineers created users and defined user-level privileges, which could also be assigned to a group profile. When users are created and assigned to a group, the user inherits the group's privileges. Groups can also be created without a mailbox. Users assigned to the group would receive copies of all messages sent to that address. If the WebMail component is installed, then users can either have access or not.
GMS handles user authentication in a variety of ways: authentication using an internal built-in database, Unix database using the Unix login, and LDAP with Active Directory.
The Gordano suite is very modular. Each product can be added on to the core mail server product, resulting in a streamlined application with no unwanted features. It also brings huge cost-savings to the customer. Solution providers can initially deploy a bare-bones system and then offer additional products as the customer's needs change.
The Microsoft Outlook e-mail client was used to read and send messages from the Gordano server. All of the expected functions that are available to Outlook users in an Exchange environment, such as shared folders, contacts and scheduling, were available in Outlook under GMS. Beyond the initial setup, Outlook users won't notice much difference from a Gordano server on the back end vs. an Exchange server.
The WebMail is powerful, giving users access to their e-mail, calendars and contacts through a Web browser. For organizations looking to move away from Exchange and Outlook, the WebMail functionality would fill the gap. In addition, unlike many other Webmail solutions that require Internet Explorer, GMS fully supports Firefox.
So how much does GMS cost? Prices depend on the functionality purchased beyond e-mail and the number of users, but sample pricing for core mail services for 1,000 users is $30 per user for the first year, Gordano said. There's good news for the channel too: Solution providers can expect overall margins from 10 percent to 40 percent, depending on the final feature set. Organizations can also look forward to low ongoing administration overhead. In addition, lower minimum hardware requirements mean older machines can be repurposed.
Gordano bundles migration utilities in the accessory pack to help move users and messages from Exchange and other legacy servers into GMS. Generally, migrating from one mail server to another is difficult and complex. Making this process easy and accessible positions GMS as a viable alternative.
Despite deploying on old hardware, there was no noticeable degradation in performance. The management console is clean and simple, making administration easy even for the most inexperienced organization. All in all, customers that use GMS because they see Exchange as a budget-buster won't miss it.
