Other than Exchange server, what other email server would you recommend?

[riahc3]

I know Microsoft's Exchange Server is basically the best and bar none but I have a curiosity on what else is out there that is (half) decent.

Thank you

 

[MustISO]

Other than exchange,
Sendmail, Postfix, Axigen, and Exim

 

[mikeymikec]

It depends on your definition of 'half-decent', but I haven't had any problems with VPOP3 and it's quite cheap.

I'm assuming that this is in the 'Software for Windows' forum because you're interested in mail server software for Windows.

 

[riahc3]

It depends on your definition of 'half-decent', but I haven't had any problems with VPOP3 and it's quite cheap.

I'm assuming that this is in the 'Software for Windows' forum because you're interested in mail server software for Windows.

Yes, it would be for Windows.

For Linux, I think there is only simple send/recieve. Nothing that even comes close to Exchange (making it not decent at all)

 

[mikeymikec]

Yes, it would be for Windows.

For Linux, I think there is only simple send/recieve. Nothing that even comes close to Exchange (making it not decent at all)

Your only guidance so far has been "like Exchange" and "runs on Windows". Exchange includes proprietary protocols for example, do you need compatibility with those, or is it the group calendaring you like, or its tight integration with Outlook? Are your requirements even inherently e-mail related, or would some sort of groupware software be a better fit for your needs?

Personally, if I were to draw a Venn diagram with the circles labelled 'decent' and 'MS Exchange', the two would not intersect at all, but that's just my opinion. Specifics are helpful (and without specifics my opinion isn't very helpful either, but since AFAIK they're not relevant to the question(s) you want to ask, I'm not including them here).

My first thought regarding your requirements is that you're asking for something that won't exist, because if any Windows mail server tried to be too much like Exchange, I'm pretty sure MS would look for a reason to stamp it out.

 

[riahc3]

Your only guidance so far has been "like Exchange" and "runs on Windows". Exchange includes proprietary protocols for example, do you need compatibility with those, or is it the group calendaring you like, or its tight integration with Outlook? Are your requirements even inherently e-mail related, or would some sort of groupware software be a better fit for your needs?

Personally, if I were to draw a Venn diagram with the circles labelled 'decent' and 'MS Exchange', the two would not intersect at all, but that's just my opinion. Specifics are helpful (and without specifics my opinion isn't very helpful either, but since AFAIK they're not relevant to the question(s) you want to ask, I'm not including them here).

My first thought regarding your requirements is that you're asking for something that won't exist, because if any Windows mail server tried to be too much like Exchange, I'm pretty sure MS would look for a reason to stamp it out.

Well would a "free Exchange" be better?

Or are there more detailed features needed?

I think I would need ActiveSync/IMAP/etc support and contacts. All of this synced to be different devcies (Android, OS X, Windows, etc) and compatible with Outlook.

 

[blurredvision]

Personally, if I were to draw a Venn diagram with the circles labelled 'decent' and 'MS Exchange', the two would not intersect at all, but that's just my opinion.

I know it's your opinion and all, but really? Come on now. Exchange is extremely solid and while I do not have any experience with other email solutions, I can't imagine anything else being so far above and beyond that Exchange is labeled anything below "decent".

 

[debian0001]

Does it need to work with an LDAP solution? Exchange is tightly integrated with AD.

 

[MrDudeMan]

I know it's your opinion and all, but really? Come on now. Exchange is extremely solid and while I do not have any experience with other email solutions, I can't imagine anything else being so far above and beyond that Exchange is labeled anything below "decent".

Don't bother. Anyone who would make such a stupid statement clearly has no idea what they're talking about.

 

[xSauronx]

Well would a "free Exchange" be better?

Or are there more detailed features needed?

I think I would need ActiveSync/IMAP/etc support and contacts. All of this synced to be different devcies (Android, OS X, Windows, etc) and compatible with Outlook.

sounds like you want gmail and are in denial.

or free mail at outlook.com
or paid mail from exchange online

important things to list in addition to wanting something for nothing [these are called specifics, which i think was alluded to earlier]:
specific hardware and OS you have to run a mail server on
bandwidth you have for hosting your own mail
anti-spam solution or budget for filtering junk mail
number of users who need access to the program
budget for implementation or recurring costs ** this will be really important if you sort of have none of the above
are users managed via LDAP or are stand-alone workgroup users?
are the users all in one location?
do you need high availability?
do you need search/journaling/retention/archival?

 

[Red Squirrel]

Never used it myself so not sure what kind of features it has but you could look at http://www.zimbra.com/

Exchange is pretty good, but ridiculously expensive. I'm actually surprised there arn't any established alternatives out there.

You could roll your own using Postfix + Dovecot for imap, but you'd have to figure stuff out yourself like calendar and what not. Or go with a web front end and have the collaboration stuff coded into that interface. Room renting and all that stuff.

 

[quikah]

Never used it myself so not sure what kind of features it has but you could look at http://www.zimbra.com/

We used this for a while at work. I will say, I really liked the search capabilities, very fast and feature rich. That is about the only standout thing. General mail features are fine. They seemed to focus mostly on the web client instead of the standalone client which I prefer to use (there is an outlook connector which I never tried).

We had a lot of trouble with meetings disappearing or being cancelled inadvertently. Could have been because we still had a lot of exchange accounts (we planned to transition fully to zimbra, but never completed the project). My calendar just seemed to behave oddly in general.

We moved back to full MS suite, works fine.

 

[soldsoul4foos]

Google for business, and use the google apps sync for Outlook....done.