which should i use sendmail or postfix..i have no preference 1

[gwu]

after careful research i havent been able to determine a preference between the two.

-it will not have many users...100 for now, mabey more later.
-it will have multiple virtual domains...10 now, mabey more later.
-only one mail server for now, mabey more later.
-linux redhat 2.4.x
-i am an intermediate linux user

thanks for any advice!!

 

[marsd]

They both support the same basic functionality except that postfix is easier to configure and work with and has a better
security profile and history.
Postfix for my .02 cents.

 

[gwu]

and qmail?

from what i read, all three of these do not support pop3. In that case what about qpopper? anything else any good?

 

[Norwich]

Hi,

Just to clarify stuff.

qmail. exim, sendmail and postfix etc are MTAs - Mail Transfer Agents. It's not a matter of supporting POP3 or IMAP, it's not their function. Once the MTA has the SMTP mail at it's destination, a MDA (mail delivery agent) such as procmail will place the emails in the desired location on the server. Then the email can be read locally with a MUA (mail user agent) or 'published' with a suitable daemon for remote POP3 or IMAP clients.

 

[gwu]

i think i already had that in mind--- how is qpopper as a pop3, is what i meant. if i understand correctly sendmail,postfix, and qmail are for sending email only and qpopper is for receiving only.Exchange 2000 does both

 

[marsd]

It is trivial to run postfix/sendmail and qpopper.
If you want to talk about exchange go to the
exchange forum.

 

[RhythmAce]

Exchange does neither of these functions. It is like the linux procmail only it has a prettier face. )

 

[Norwich]

Hi,

The MTA does all the delivery, relaying, inbound and outbound. It either receives mail direct on the SMTP port or from other sources like fetchmail (which will pull in mail from remote POP servers and pass into SMTP)


Exchange is a group of services, It has an equivilent of an MTA - I think it's called something similar. It also has an Internet Messaging Service which could be their MDA but I'm guessing here. Their Exchange Information Store service handles the POP and IMAP as well as mailbox maintenence.

 

[stickbit]

I just tought you might need to know that SCO.com sells a complete email solution.
The SCO Insight Connector for Volution Messaging Server provides a complete suite of collaboration services. The product installs on Microsoft Windows and works with Microsoft Outlook 97, Outlook 98, Outlook 2000, and Outlook 2002 (XP) clients when used in conjunction with the SCO Volution Messaging Server.

Together, the SCO Insight Connector/Volution Messaging Server combination provides additional functions, not previously available to Microsoft desktop users who are using Unix and Linux-based email servers. Additional features include full support for Outlook calendaring, shared folders, and meeting room scheduling.
All this at a fraction of MS Exchange.

 

[bwilliam13]

Sendmail will scale better and is more customizable for the more users you have. For the number of users you're talking about, either option will work.

I would use the pop3 option built into Redhat. It's already configured like you'll probably want it.

My preference is Sendmail because I could almost write my own book on it...I've been using it for over a decade. However, you may want to use postfix for now just because of simplicity. If you decide you want sendmail later on, it's not a difficult think to switch mail transport agents. It's just a middleman. If you go to heavier traffic and you need Sendmail, go to it. Otherwise, used what's easier at this point in time.

For POP3, just use Redhat's built-in one. With tcpwrappers and all that already built in (as well as ability to utilize SSL with the built-in POP3), you don't need to use any other POP3 daemon.

 

[StarTAC]

i find Postfix safer, faster, more flexible and more secure.. i used it after sendmail..

for a POP3 server, i'd recommend installing Qmail's Qmail-POP3d, as it and Postfix support Maildir by default, a better storage method than the otherwise sticky and hairy Mbox [/var/spool/mail/user]....

good luck...