Comments on: Ask RedMonk: Zimbra Thoughts http://redmonk.com/sogrady/2007/08/13/ask-redmonk-zimbra-thoughts/ because technology is just another ecosystem Wed, 25 Jan 2012 16:19:42 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: ciderhouse http://redmonk.com/sogrady/2007/08/13/ask-redmonk-zimbra-thoughts/comment-page-1/#comment-165514 ciderhouse Thu, 13 Sep 2007 06:37:25 +0000 http://redmonk.com/sogrady/2007/08/13/ask-redmonk-zimbra-thoughts/#comment-165514 Zimbra is moving away from Tomcat in Z5. Also, found a useful comparison of Zimbra hosting vs. Google hosting: http://faqs.01.com/#33 Zimbra is moving away from Tomcat in Z5. Also, found a useful comparison of Zimbra hosting vs. Google hosting: http://faqs.01.com/#33

]]> By: LK http://redmonk.com/sogrady/2007/08/13/ask-redmonk-zimbra-thoughts/comment-page-1/#comment-146608 LK Wed, 15 Aug 2007 07:33:42 +0000 http://redmonk.com/sogrady/2007/08/13/ask-redmonk-zimbra-thoughts/#comment-146608 I have been running Zimbra at our company and also at an external customer for about 1.5 years. As much as I would like to have a serious multiplatform Exchange replacement, I don´t think Zimbra is quite there yet. Some points I don´t like: * Complexity, like running 2 MySQL instances that keeps among other things mail metadata. When it gets out of sync with the mailstore (has happened), you can lose mail. (Have never administered Exchange so it may be even worse, I don´t know) * While they use some well known stable products like postfix and MySQL, for some reason they have written their own Tomcat/Java IMAP server, which is not nearly as stable as Cyrus or Courier. * Sending large enough mails crashes the Tomcat server. (Mailsize can be limited of course). * I still don´t have a complete disaster recovery procedure, except backing up the entire Zimbra installation. (That works, know from experience :) ) * Different installation packages for every version of every distribution. Some good things: * Works with all clients (tested Linux, Win, Mac OS X) * The Web interface might be slow, but it has a lot of features. I have personally quit using a standalone mailreader. Most people don´t frequently open and close the mail application anyway. * Free version available. * The forums are very good, Zimbra employees always helps out, even with the free version * Antivirus / Antispam nicely integrated. I would recommend people to download and try the free version, it is really simple to set up, and then try it out. If you decide to use it in production, I would recommend going with the non-free version so you get the possibility for single mailbox backup/restore. I have been running Zimbra at our company and also at an external customer for about 1.5 years.
As much as I would like to have a serious multiplatform Exchange replacement, I don´t think Zimbra is quite there yet.

Some points I don´t like:
* Complexity, like running 2 MySQL instances that keeps among other things mail metadata. When it gets out of sync with the mailstore (has happened), you can lose mail.
(Have never administered Exchange so it may be even worse, I don´t know)
* While they use some well known stable products like postfix and MySQL, for some reason they have written their own Tomcat/Java IMAP server, which is not nearly as stable as Cyrus or Courier.
* Sending large enough mails crashes the Tomcat server. (Mailsize can be limited of course).
* I still don´t have a complete disaster recovery procedure, except backing up the entire Zimbra installation. (That works, know from experience :) )
* Different installation packages for every version of every distribution.

Some good things:
* Works with all clients (tested Linux, Win, Mac OS X)
* The Web interface might be slow, but it has a lot of features. I have personally quit using a standalone mailreader. Most people don´t frequently open and close the mail application anyway.
* Free version available.
* The forums are very good, Zimbra employees always helps out, even with the free version
* Antivirus / Antispam nicely integrated.

I would recommend people to download and try the free version, it is really simple to set up, and then try it out.
If you decide to use it in production, I would recommend going with the non-free version so you get the possibility for single mailbox backup/restore.

]]> By: Mike Dolan http://redmonk.com/sogrady/2007/08/13/ask-redmonk-zimbra-thoughts/comment-page-1/#comment-146263 Mike Dolan Tue, 14 Aug 2007 23:47:58 +0000 http://redmonk.com/sogrady/2007/08/13/ask-redmonk-zimbra-thoughts/#comment-146263 Is this really a question of Zimbra or more simply server/client vs web based RIA? All good points. If I were to add anything, I'd also take into account licensing - depending on your org size, you could save a bundle with Zimbra. BTW, Zimbra Desktop could make this even more compelling (haven't tried the alpha myself honestly...) Is this really a question of Zimbra or more simply server/client vs web based RIA?

All good points. If I were to add anything, I’d also take into account licensing – depending on your org size, you could save a bundle with Zimbra.

BTW, Zimbra Desktop could make this even more compelling (haven’t tried the alpha myself honestly…)

]]> By: Dave G http://redmonk.com/sogrady/2007/08/13/ask-redmonk-zimbra-thoughts/comment-page-1/#comment-145564 Dave G Tue, 14 Aug 2007 05:23:59 +0000 http://redmonk.com/sogrady/2007/08/13/ask-redmonk-zimbra-thoughts/#comment-145564 We have been using a hosted Exchange service for over a year now, and are considering moving to Google apps. One of the biggest problems we have run into with a hosted exchange service is the mailbox size - default size is 100MB and it gets expensive to bump that up for everyone. The recommendation is to have users auto-archive to their local machine, but that causes issues with backups and with non-primary-windows users. All the salespeople love the outlook calendaring, though, and it is nice to have default integration with so many other tools (webmeetings, etc.) We're about to test the gcal stuff, and I am really hoping it meets our needs because it will be significantly lower cost and provide more flexibility for choice of clients. I am hoping it can't have any worse downtime issues, either! It turns out, even the scheduled outages on an exchange server are fairly intrusive (especially for west coast users of an east-coast based datacenter.) We have been using a hosted Exchange service for over a year now, and are considering moving to Google apps. One of the biggest problems we have run into with a hosted exchange service is the mailbox size – default size is 100MB and it gets expensive to bump that up for everyone. The recommendation is to have users auto-archive to their local machine, but that causes issues with backups and with non-primary-windows users. All the salespeople love the outlook calendaring, though, and it is nice to have default integration with so many other tools (webmeetings, etc.) We’re about to test the gcal stuff, and I am really hoping it meets our needs because it will be significantly lower cost and provide more flexibility for choice of clients. I am hoping it can’t have any worse downtime issues, either! It turns out, even the scheduled outages on an exchange server are fairly intrusive (especially for west coast users of an east-coast based datacenter.)

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