Re: Why use external email hosts?

On Sun, 15 Jan 2006 12:23:38 -0500, "Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]"
<lanwench@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:


>Ezra Herman <eherman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> typed:
>> I posted a request for external email host service recommendations in
>> a different thread and received a question on why someone would want
>> an external host when they have Exchange.
>>
>> I have a few clients who haven't used Exchange as their default
>> external mail host and the reasons varied.
>>

>> 1) The client used and liked a different internal email solution and
>> didn't want to bother with Exchange.
>
>Show them what Exchange *does*. Explain also that if they don't use it, and
>use only POP/SMTP, not only can they notshare any information or use OWA,
>they can't reasonably back up & maintain their e-mail. PST files must be
>stored/accessed from the local hard drive of the workstation, not across a
>LAN/WAN connection (it isn't supported and *will* invariably cause
>problems). One of my tasks as a consultant is to train & teach and advise on
>Best Practices....I'm supposed to know more about this than they do, and
>advise accordingly.

Well, there are other small business mail/groupware solutions out
there besides Exchange that don't use Outlook or PST files.

>> 2) The security posture of the company dictated no open ports directly
>> into a domain controller.
>
>So put a Postfix/sendmail box in a DMZ, set it up to relay mail to your SBS
>server's LAN IP, set up your SMTP virtual server to receive mail *only* from
>the IP of the other server, and open up port 25 to the other server.
>Although allowing port 25 inbound is not really a valid cause for panic,
>from a security standpoint.
>

Yes, but this causes added expense and maintenance. And you have to
open up more than that if you want anybody to get their email when
they are out of the office.

>Also, re security, if you don't use an internal mail server of some sort,
>you can't do centralized antivirus/content filtering from your own server...
>> 3) Too little bandwidth on the internet connection.
>
>You'll still have the same issue, and in fact it will be worse, if each
>client is downloading/uploading mail via the same connection from their
>workstations.

With an external host you can do spam and malware filtering before it
ever hits your network.

>> 4) Unreliable internet connectivity.
>
>Same issue as in #3, but a) fix the unreliability as best you can, even if
>it involves getting another ISP/connection type, b) get someone else to act
>as backup so their server queues mail and automatically retries delivery
>every X hours - Mail Hop BackupMX at www.dyndns.org is one option if the ISP
>won't doe it.

This isn't much of an issue anymore.

>>
>> These are the only reasons that I've run into and thankfully they are
>> less and less common (except for the security justification).
>>


However, I should make it clear that I don't recommend this setup as a
general rule, believing that Exchange is best for most situations. (I
do still recommend an external spam filtering service in some cases.)

Most of my early SBS clients (4.5 and 2000) weren't particularly
interested in Exchange. Usually, SQL Server was the draw. Now Exchange
and RWW are the big sellers, SQL Server after that and ISA way in the
rear, with only the clients who want to do close web access monitoring
and control expressing much interest. I try to flog Sharepoint but
it's hard getting any traction with clients.

-Ezra Herman
.

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