Re: [exim] The Future of Email is SQL

>
> > Obviously the database I'm thinking about is something that's a lot
> > better that Exchange or Groupwise. I'm thinking MySQL but there's Oracle
> > and other databases that might do the trick. Obviously this isn't going
> > to happen unless the SQL backend is rock solid.


Mike dumped this on me. :)
With a database driven email system you get EVERYTHING!!! You can share
messages and folders and address books with anyone else on the system. You
can see when someone opened the email you sent. You can have an automatic
notification when they open your email. You can setup resources such as
laptops and conference rooms that you can reserve. With a bit more code you
get shared calendars. A little bit more code and you can get more
functionality out of those calendars. As you can see, these are important
features for a company's email system.

But all of those possibilities come at a high price. There is no rock solid
SQL backend. Database admins get paid the big bucks because their skills are
so necessary to running the databases. A database admin who is also an email
admin would be worth even more. Which is why Exchange admins get paid more
than regular Windows server admins who make more than Windows desktop
support people. All the email in a single database is vulnerable to a single
error.

If you don't need those additional features then the costs outweigh the
benefits of using a database to store your email. You might still find some
value in importing the email into a database so you can use that
information. But sticking with the old mbox and such allows you to save time
and effort when dealing with ISP or home email systems.