Zimbra Alternative

[Todd1561]

This might not be the place to pose this question, but I think most of the people reading this post have gone through this decision making process as well. I have installed Zimbra and like it's functionality but ultimately it's more than what I need. The web interface looks great but with all of the functionality I think can overload my server and clients.

What I'm looking for is a simple SMTP/POP/IMAP server that can do SSL over all protocols and can support multiple domains. Having a web interface is critical but I would prefer something that is much simpler than the Zimbra GUI. Something that will run much smoother on modest hardware (server = 512MB RAM, 2 Ghz Processor). I've come across commercial alternatives such as Merak which seem to offer everything I need, but they do not offer a free version that has the functionality I'm looking for. Since this is a real small implementation I'm not looking to spend any extra money.

I would prefer a Linux based system, but would consider Windows. Even if there is no one solution out there and I wind up having to piece together something using different applications like Postfix, Sendmail, Cyrus, etc, that's OK, I've had to do that before. Web clients such as SquirrelMail are a little too simple, however.

Thanks for your help,
Todd

[rsharpe]

We would love for you to implement Zimbra, but if you can't you can't. I think your are going to end up piecing something together. If you are looking for something with more functionality that Squirlemail take a look at IMP by Horde, it is a webmail client, they also have a new AJAX-ish based client DIMP. I have never used it, you may want to have a look.

[phoenix]

It's only memory that you'd need to add to that system, 1Gb minimum systems specs and a couple of gig wouldn't cost much. Assuming you have the disk space it's a pretty minimal cost for a great product like Zimbra (but I would say that, wouldn't I).

[czaveri]

Either more memory or less features.

Here's another reference.

[Todd1561]

Thanks everyone for the quick responses. One of the bigger concerns I have with Zimbra is its use of Java. I've programmed in Java and used many enterprise applications that utilize Java and have always found that it is a resource hog. I used to run a GroupWise 6.5 system that heavily uses Java for its WebAccess piece, all to often I'd have to reboot or at least shut services down because of rogue Java processes that would kill the processor and suck up RAM. Now I'm not saying that the shortcomings of Novell GroupWise are anything that Zimbra has as well, I've just found many issues with Java when it comes to performance and would rather stay away from it if possible.

Yes, having more memory for the server would be nice, unfortunately it uses RIMMs so to put 2 GB in it would cost over $1000 for decent memory.

I'm still looking around and will take a look at IMP as suggested by rsharpe.

I think Zimbra is a great product for someone looking for an all-in-one collaboration suite, but for a simple/secure email server it's just a little too much.

Thanks again!
Todd

[czaveri]

Zimbra is actually Zimbra Collaboration Suite (ZCS).

[aogail]

Until I started using Zimbra I was using a combination of Vexim (for managing email domains/accounts/aliases/etc.) and RoundCube for webmail. On the whole it's a pretty nice setup, and uses next to no resources.

You basically just need to run through the Vexim docs to set up Vexim with exim + IMAP server of your choice. Once it's set up all administration is done through a web interface.

[jholder]

Lets try to keep these posts support oriented as opposed to using the forums to recommend competitors.

[phoenix]

Originally Posted by wannabetenor

Lets try to keep these posts support oriented as opposed to using the forums to recommend competitors.

There is no competition for ZImbra.

[scottnelson]

I would still use Zimbra and if the users don't need all of the features, you can turn some of them off, like the Zimlets, admin graphs, admin reports and such to save CPU and then you can also just use regular e-mail clients or some light web based mail interface. Zimbra also has a light web mail version coming out at some point from what I hear as well.

After trying to integrate all of this stuff together, IMAP/IMAP-S, CLAMAV Antivirus checker, anti-spam, easy to use admin and so on, you are in for more work than I think you want to take on really.

3/4 of my users check thier mail via their own IMAP client and Squirrelmail and the rest via Zimbra web interface.
So you maybe you can toss some things around, workflow-wise and see if it still fits your requirement(s). I haven't seen anything else out there, that's free ( I am using OSS ver ) and does mostly what I want out of the box.
Now, that being said, there are still some config stuff I have to do via SSH and all, but it's a *LOT* less than what I was looking at if I pieced all of the stuff together myself from scrath using open source stuff.

Some of the other "free" stuff did look at, offered really basic "MAIL" and that was it. The builtin anti-virus and anti-spam Zimbra stuff that comes already integrated out of the box, is worth it by itself to me really.

Anyway, just my .02 worth anyway.... ;-)

Scotty