On 12/15/05, Jason Meers <Jason.Meers@???> wrote:
>
> If you need any further help with this or the paper just mail me direct.
> I would be happy to take you on a visit of our sites if it helps (based
> Manchester UK)
>
> I have been cursed with Exchange for years and got into Exim whilst
Jason,
In all fairness I have been quite surprised by the response up until now
i have recieved to the list. It appears that a good number of technical
users have almost accepted MS as a computing solution, albeit in a 'it could
be worse' or 'its better than it was' sort of a way. I in true matrix
fashion, cant see beyond a choice i dont understand...
trying to find a way to firstly secure it, then secondly replace it.
>
> <rant>
> The Exchange/Outlook virus factory is the worst lump of software I have
> EVER used. The standard version of exchange (also in the small business
> versions) are just poison pills that are pre-programed to explode at
> 16Gb (Just enough low enough for everyone to hit it, and just high
> enough that you can't afford to lose it).
>
> Without warning your mailserver will stop working and your only
> indication of what went wrong is a single 4 digit error code entry in
> event viewer AFTER IT HAS HAPPENED.
>
> You can fix it two ways:
>
> - get out the double-barreled cheque book and pay the ransom to see your
> e-mails again by buying ENTERPRISE versions of your software (knock-on
> effect to other licences too).
>
> - Compact your "databases" to save space (databases, good joke). You
> will generally free some space by compacting all of the "empty" space
> you have been backing up due the the poor "database" design, but the
> majority of space re-claimed will come from all of the messages that
> simply vanish or end up completely blank and unusable after the compress
> (lose messages = recover space).
>
> - Edit the registry to use an even more risky one-time "death-row" 17Gb
> hack.
>
>
>
> Seriously, what kind of person would choose to use:
>
> - A single microsoft access database to store all company emails in one
> place (I wouldn't trust JET to store a shopping list never mind
> corporate data and correspondence. Think about it, MS ACCESS to store
> everything)
>
> - An SMTP feature built into the notorious IIS webserver instead of a
> real MTA (IIS WILL be accessible from the net even if you don't run a
> website because it provides the SMTP service not exchange)
>
> - A user directory based on the broken LDAP and Kerberos known as
> Active Directory (don't even get me started on the endless list of
> problems caused by multiple sites and servers in exchange environments)
>
> - Exchange Security (can I legally use those two words in the same
> sentence?)
>
> Exchange users are forced to use these every day. Keeping Exchange
> running is hard - backing it up reliably is impossible in my opinion
> without taking the server down and making flat-file backups.
>
> When looking at TCO the cost of backups will probably cost more than
> exchange itself. For every server we had, at least two more were
> required for making RELIABLE backups and fixing corrupt mailboxes offline.
>
> Do yourself a favor and look at Scalix if you MUST run something like
> Exchange. I've migrated 4 exchange organizations already with plans for
> another 4 next year (and some users didn't even notice and the box is
> now good for 50x more users from 100 to 5000).
>
> see www.scalix.com
> </rant>
This is what im after... problems / benefits from running exchange in an
entreprise.
Duly noted i dont remember reading any benefits above... :)
I definately would be interseted in learning more about your scenario at
Manchester.
Ronan
Can anybody back me up here, or am I completely wrong about a fantastic
> product.
>
> Before you flame me - ask yourself honestly how many of your Exim
> problems relate to viruses, broken MTA's and badly written clients and
> then ask yourself what percentage of those problems came along with
> Windows\Exchange\Outlook\VBA\Office HTML\Office RTF
>
>
> Thanks
>
> Jason
>
>
>
>
>
>
> >>Ronan Exim wrote:
> >>
> >>
> >>>I need objective pros / cons for exchange in an entrprise
> >>>environment that I can along with my colleagues prepare a
> >>>document expressing our "concerns" regarding.
> >>
>
> >
> > It's been mentioned on this list before, but those interested in
> > integrating Exchange and Exim might find Jason Meer's paper on the
> > subject of interest. This paper was presented at the first Exim
> > conference in February 2005. See:
> >
> > http://www.uit.co.uk/exim-conference/full-papers/jason-meers.pdf
>
>
