Ahem. ;-)

As one of  the authors of just such an email system
(ESMTP/MIME/POP2/POP3/FINGER/EUDORA-PASS/etc - aka NetMail/3000) that runs
on the 3000 *and* uses an Image database to store email I can agree
firsthand with the reliability and performance.. though I might be a bit
biased. ;-)

And we've been supporting those neato protocols since about 1995 on the
HP(e)3000, thank you very much! :-) And we provide an ESMTP/MIME
bi-directional gateway for HP OpenDesk that even HP recommended in a white
paper on the topic. :-) again.

As for releasing OpenDesk to open source; dunno about that. The user
interface is pretty dated now, and the GUI was written in one of those odd
pascal variants... and even some of the HP engineers that looked at it
didn't want to inflict it on anyone. :-) Still, it doesn't hurt to ask! I
know there are quite a few quirks in OpenDesk I'd like to see fixed...

As for LDAP... we'll see. Still working on some other surprises...
http://www.3k.com/ <http://www.3k.com/>

  -Chris Bartram
   (speaking for [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]> )

                -----Original Message-----
                From:   Donna Garverick [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
                Sent:   Friday, March 23, 2001 3:31 PM
                To:     [log in to unmask]
                Subject:        Re: [HP3000-L] and just what is this new
toy...?

                Michael Anderson wrote:

                > I know of a POP/SMTP server that runs on the M.P.E.
Platform, and uses a Image Dataset to store all email messages +
attachments. I found performance to be good, and reliability to be better
than other Email servers, because the M.P.E. platform is always up and
running, and the Image database never has any problems.

                folks keeping asking about 'the next killer app for mpe'?  i
think a full-fledged, internet-ready, yes-it-can-deal-with-ldap (or what
about *native* ldap?? :-), enterprise-capable, yadayada email server that
utilizes image would hit the nail square on the head.  (and getting hp to
release the source for hp/opendesk
                would (imo) be a big help)  however...

                > Another approach that I have seen is; Store your blobs in
M.P.E.'s Hierarchical File System, then store the name of the HFS file in
the Image Detail Dataset.

                ...it's image's inability to natively store blobs that
creates the above problem.  and yes, it is a problem.  once your data is
outside of image, nothing except for the file system is going to keep track
of it.  while we thankfully have a wonderful file system, it
doesn't/can't/shouldn't secure your data like image
                does.  granted, a likely blob 'solution' would include hfs
-- but without image's layer of security, it's a no-go for lots of people
and applications.

                i really like the idea of mpe being able to run a *real*
email server.  nearly everything about mpe and image make them the ideal
support structures for such a server.  solve the blob issue and off you go.
- d

                --
                Donna Garverick     Sr. System Programmer
                925-210-6631        [log in to unmask]

                "Unix _is_ user friendly.
                It's just very selective about who its friends are.
                And sometimes even best friends have fights."

                >>>MY opinions, not Longs Drug Stores'<<<