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From: Rich Fagen, Director
Date: 3/3/97
Subject: CCO Installs Dedicated Institutional E-Mail Server

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For many in the Caltech community, electronic mail (e-mail) has become an indispensable communications tool. The CCO is committed to providing a robust and standards-based framework for campus e-mail services. To provide stability and scalability, the CCO has installed a dedicated institutional e-mail server that will provide:

• a POP-3 (Post Office Protocol) server
• directory services
• backup services

The new e-mail server is a Sun Microsystems Ultra Enterprise Server 2/2170, with two UltraSPARC processors, 256 megabytes of memory and four gigabytes of disk. The configuration (memory, disk, etc.) of the institutional server will be scaled up as usage of the system warrants. The institutional e-mail server is managed by the CCO Systems group.

E-Mail services are provided free of charge to the campus community. The advantages of using the Institutional e-mail server include:

• Departments do not have to purchase and install a dedicated e-mail server
• Removes the initial and continuing support burdens from local staff
• Consistent and reliable backups are guaranteed
• The mail server is maintained by experienced staff at CCO, and kept in optimal condition with regular tuning and installation of patches/bug fixes
• Ensures compatibility among a large segment of the campus and Internet communities (in how attachments and other mail features are handled)

To use the Institutional e-mail server, you will need:

• a computer connected to the campus network (or a modem connection)
• an account on the CCO Unix cluster (account request forms are available on the CCO web site, and at the CCO Front Desk in the Jorgensen building lobby).
• e-mail client software that supports POP mail. Eudora Pro is the most popular POP mail client in use on the Internet today. Eudora Pro is available for both Macintosh and Microsoft Windows. The CCO Front Desk has copies in stock for $45. A version called "Eudora Light" is free and downloadable via the Web. Eudora Light does not have all of the high end features of the commercial product (e.g. mail filtering, spell checking, customizable address books) but is certainly adequate for casual e-mail users. Either version handles e-mail attachments of a variety of encoding formats.
• There are many other excellent POP mail clients on the market, including Netscape Communicator and Claris E-Mailer. Any of these clients will also work with the institutional e-mail server.

Microsoft Mail

There are several hundred users of Microsoft Mail on campus. Many of these users have already begun making plans to switch to more modern, standards-based email packages. Over the next year, we plan to help migrate these users. Migration involves moving the address book and stored messages from Microsoft Mail to a new format. We will be contacting organizations that use Microsoft Mail to give them more details and offer assistance on making the transition. Administrative Computing Services (ACS) endorses this plan and will also be migrating its users to newer e-mail systems.

Departmental E-Mail Servers

Some organizations on campus may choose to install and operate their own e-mail servers. These servers can be based on open standards like POP-3 or on proprietary systems. One proprietary product gaining popularity for workgroups is Microsoft Exchange Server. Exchange has attractive features including Internet-friendly protocols, low-maintenance design, and integrated scheduling.This product runs on Microsoft Windows-NT servers. Exchange e-mail client software is available for both Windows computers and Macs. In conjunction with CCO's support of the Windows NT operating system, CCO offers comprehensive support options for the planning, deployment, maintenance, and coordination of Microsoft Exchange servers. Similar support is available for organizations' current or planned POP servers and other mail servers.

Future Trends in Electronic Messaging

New standards are beginning to emerge in the arena of electronic messaging. Examples include "IMAP" (Internet Messaging Access Protocol) for email delivery and "LDAP" (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) for directory services. The CCO is committed to supporting industry standards and will be working to add additional services to the Institutional e-mail server over time.

More Information on E-Mail at Caltech

• The CCO provides online information on e-mail use (including how to configure Eudora to use the institutional mail server) on our web site.
• The CCO will be offering free Eudora Pro classes to the Caltech community. Check the CCO training web page for details and sign up information.
• Contact the CCO Help Desk (ext. 4602) for assistance with installing or using POP mail clients.