FOR BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY MANAGERS
AUGUST 7, 1995

Microsoft's Mail Server for PC Networks 3.5

Multitasking Message Transfer Agent runs on Windows NT for improved performance and administration
Getting the message: Mail 3.5's Post Office Diagnostic utility can pinpoint server problems and fix inconsistencies.

New Microsoft Mail Delivers The Goods

Waiting for Exchange?
Mail 3.5 can handle the job

The Windows NT Multitasking
Message Transfer Agent enhances performance.

By Behrouz Tabaee, Alex Leone,
and David Fiedler

IF YOU'RE AN administrator who's been waiting for a new Microsoft Mail server with full point-and-click administration utilities and feature parity between Windows and Macintosh clients, your wait is not over. But don't flip the page yet. It's worth the effort to upgrade now to the new MS Mail server version 3.5, rather than wait for Microsoft Exchange-Microsoft's much-delayed next generation client-server messaging and groupware package.

The good news in MS Mail 3.5 is the new Multitasking Message Transfer Agent (MMTA) for Microsoft Windows NT, Windows administrative utilities that let you check for obsolete addresses in personal address books and clean up old messages, an electronic forms designer, and a host of bug fixes. Not much else has changed in the latest version, and unfortunately most administrative utilities still run only on DOS.

Handling The Job

The MMTA software performs three important tasks: delivering and distributing mail between MS Mail post offices, which are storage areas for user mail on file servers; providing dialup access to MS Mail Remote clients; and synchronizing directories among post offices.

The MMTA brings enhanced functionality and manageability over the older OS/2 version of MMTA. Running as a Windows NT service, this MMTA exploits the advanced features built into the Windows NT operating system, such as multithreading and remote service monitoring.

Also, Microsoft Mail Service Manager, which can be loaded on any Intel-based machine running Windows NT 3.51, provides centralized remote control and monitoring of separate instances of the MMTA services that run on servers across the enterprise. This service manager will even work over a phone line using the Microsoft Remote Access Server built into Windows NT. According to Microsoft, Mail Server 3.5 will also work with the upcoming Microsoft Exchange client to be included with Windows 95.

Our production electronic-mail system supports 1,700 users on 22 post offices with nine servers running MMTA on OS/2. We migrated three of these servers to the MMTAfor Windows NT during testing, and encountered no major problems. The Windows NT MMTA installs easily, assuming that you have a basic understanding of Windows NT Server 3.51 architecture and administration. We had our first server running in less than 15 minutes. However, we discovered that MMTAfor Windows NT required about 32 Mbytes of RAM for a remote mail server with eight modems-that's twice the RAM the previous version needed, which ran easily in just 16 Mbytes.

We had no trouble monitoring and controlling any of our servers from any Windows NT 3.51 system and starting and stopping different services.

At the heart of MS Mail is the concept of the Home post office-the main directory the MMTA logs on to when it initializes. In the previous version, you could have only one Home post office per ma chine. Now, an administrator can run multiple copies of the MMTA software si multaneously on the same machine for higher throughput, similar to the daemon concept on Unix. We found that one server running the MMTAon Windows NT can re place up to 10 DOS ma chines run ning the older MTA (Message Transfer Agent), which was not multitasked.

In the previous version of Microsoft Mail, a built-in limit in Novell NetWare prevented you from attaching to more than eight servers, limit ing one MMTA to accessing eight post offices. Under Windows NT, the number of post offices you can access is limited to the number of drive letters available.

Another advantage to using Windows NT is that the network drivers and clients operate in 32-bit protected mode, taking advantage of NT's multi-layered system architecture. On OS/2 and DOS, the Open Datalink Interfacedrivers shared memory with the protocol stack, causing the system to crash if the network link or resource was unavailable. With protected-mode network drivers in Windows NT, the MMTA can continue to operate even after a network connection is lost and restored. Windows NT Server's scheduling service can also be used to stop and start mail services at specific times for backup or other system requirements.

New Utilities

Anything that makes a mail administrator's life easier is appreciated. In large corporate networks, good utilities are almost mandatory, and all the new ones in version 3.5 use the Windows interface.

The new Personal Address Book Check should reduce the frequency of bounced E-mail due to users moving inside a corporate E-mail system. This utility helps identify obsolete E-mail addresses in users' personal address books, by looking for inconsistencies compared to the global ad dress list on the post office. It produces an E-mail attachment that lists all suspect names and addresses. The new PABlist utility makes it easier to share addresses among users. It creates a text listing of the address book for exporting or sharing with others, rather than requiring users to manually copy E-mail addresses. Internet E-mail addresses also can now be saved to a file for backing up your irreplaceable client addresses.

Another new utility, MMF Clean, helps administrators maintain the users' message files on the server. Messages can be automatically deleted based on criteria administrators set, such as message size, date, age, read or unread status, and what folders the software will examine. A handy administrative Post Office Diagnostic utility (see screen shot above) in this version can pinpoint problems on the server that will bounce messages or cause addresses to be looked up incorrectly. It has many options and features, such as the ability to check the post office for inconsistencies or fix any problems. The Electronic Forms Designer now included with MS Mail lets developers create executable electronic forms for custom mail-based applications. (For a review of Electronic Forms Designer, see IW, June 26, p. 80.)

Upgrading to Windows NT MMTA is a must for any business planning to migrate to Micro soft Exchange. Not only do you benefit immediately from the advanced features of the MMTA, but network managers will also learn how to set up Windows NT domains, trust relationships between domains, service setup, and remote monitoring. Exchange requires careful planning for your sites, server locations, and domain structures. The knowledge you will gain will enhance your ability to implement a robust Exchange-based enterprise.

Behrouz Tabaee is a senior E-mail administrator, and Alex Leone is a network engineer at CMP Publications Inc. in Manhasset, N.Y.

Microsoft Mail Server for PC Networks 3.5









Microsoft




1 Microsoft Way




Redmond, Wash. 98052




800-426-9400





Price:




Complete package, including one postoffice and




10 use licenses: $469. Upgrade server only: $339.





Supported Platforms:




Servers: Novell NetWare, MicrosoftLANManager, Banyan Vines,




or other networking software compatible with DOS3.3 or later





Message Transfer Agent: 




DOS3.3 or later, or Windows NTServer 3.51 running on Intel processor





Clients: 




Windows 3.1, Macintosh System 6.0.3 or 




later, DOS 3.3 or later, OS/2 1.2 or later. 





Reviewed Configuration:




Server: Compaq SystemPro 486DX/50 running NetWare 3.11




Multitasking Message Transfer Agent:




Compaq Prosignia 486DX/66 running Windows NTServer 3.51.