Rainmail Server Administrator Guide
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Rainmail Server R26: What is new?

Rainmail Server is available in two Editions, Standard and Enterprise. Standard Edition has all the functionality required to implement an Intranet in a Small/Medium organization. Enterprise Edition, in addition to the functionality has better Administration and Reporting capabilities. In this section we will present the new features of both the editions. 

 

Standard Edition 
 
Proxy Server – Allow site blocking based on categories. 
Allows Site blocking based on Categories. A set of 64 categories are defined and about 1.7 million web sites are classified in to these categories.
The web sites are continuously updated and the database is downloaded by Rainmail Server once a week.
Administrators can block (or) allow site access based on categories. 
Proxy Server – Default secure block level. 
Rainmail Server R26 version, by default, disallows any sites that leads to loss in productivity. While these can be overridden by the Administrators on a case to case basis, the default settings ensure that users do not waste time in non-productive web browsing. 
Move to a very efficient Backend database for Mail storage 
Rainmail R26 moves the backend email storage to Maildir. This means that overall email access is very fast even for Large mail boxes.
This also means that the 2GB limit (per email folder) that was there in the earlier versions have been removed.
While it is still recommended that emails be separated into folders for efficient access, a Single folder can be of any size. 
Move Administrative Registry to MySQL database from Text file format. 
Rainmail R26 moves the Administrative registry to MySQL database. This means that
  1. Administrative commands (like Changing passwords, creating users) run up to 10 times faster than before.
  2. With the same Hardware, Rainmail can handle 10 times more users than before. Rainmail can effortlessly handle up to 65,000 users with this improvement.
 
Rainmail API Support for Pre and Post command scripts 
Administrators can now extend the power of Rainmail to other areas of organization using custom Pre and Post command scripts.
This opens up a whole new area of Possibilities, including, but not limited to:
  1. Stopping execution of commands in certain conditions (for example a new user cannot be created with the same Real name).
  2. To enforce Single Sign-on, Creating/deleting an user in a HR/CRM database (say Oracle) automatically when the user is created/deleted in Rainmail.
  3. Perform custom logging for Audit purposes
  4. The possibilities are endless!
 
Upgraded Anti Virus/SPAM protection 
Anti Virus/SPAM software have been upgraded to latest version. This makes virus scanning very efficient and enables transparent scanning of Web downloads. 
Groupware – Email Interface 
Groupware contains a brand new AJAX based Webmail interface. The user interface looks like MS Outlook/Outlook Express and is fast and customizable. 
Groupware – Addressbook 
Groupware has a AJAX based Addressbooks. Multiple Addressbooks are possible and by default, a typical user has the following:
  1. Global (cannot be modified by user, only read)
  2. Customers
  3. Suppliers
  4. Personal Address book (can be edited by user)
Each address book has a detailed list of fields associated with the Contacts. 
Groupware – Calendar 
An AJAX based Multiple, Sharable Calendar suite is included. Users can see a Daily/Weekly/Monthly/Yearly view of their appointments and also fix meetings with multiple participants.
Invitations can be extended to users and also external users (through Email).
Share Calendars in multiple modes
  1. Read only
  2. Write and Read
  3. Write, Read and Delete
  4. Manage
 
Groupware – Tasks/Notes 
An AJAX based task suite. Users can create tasks and the status of the same (In progress, Completion, etc.) can be kept track of by user/supervisor.
Task can be created and delegated to different users and status of the same can be kept track of.
Tasks can be filtered for better management (like Active, All, Pending, Pending in one week, etc.) 
Groupware - Files 
An AJAX based File manager that can be used to store personal as well as Shared files.
Files can be organized as
  1. Personal
  2. Shared
  3. Contacts wise
  4. Company wise
Files can be uploaded and downloaded using a browser based Interface. If the file is to be shared with an external person (not in organization), a time bound link can be sent to download. 
Groupware – Announcements 
An AJAX based application to manage company News/Announcements. Administrator can add announcements (if required time bound) and the same will be displayed in the Dashboard of the user. 

 

Enterprise Edition 
 
Groupware – Ticket system 
The ticketing system allows users to create a ticket (or an Incident) by describing the problem as well as attaching appropriate files.
The administrators receive the ticket and can take action to resolve the problem.
User can see the status of their tickets at any point of time. 
Groupware – Project Management/Time tracking 
Project management tool allows users to create projects. Projects, in addition to having estimates, can have
  1. Input material costs
  2. Non-labour Expenditure
  3. Labour costs (per project employee)
  4. Schedules
  5. Sub-projects
  6. Tasks
Employees who work on project can input the working time onto Projects and report of the same is made available to Supervisor.
Different kinds of reports can be obtained from the tool to efficiently manage the projects. 
Groupware – Synchronization 
The suite supports the following Synchronization protocols:
  1. SyncML
  2. CalDAV
  3. Microsoft Active Sync
These can be used to Synchronize Email/Contacts/Calendar/task/Notes data (2 way) to supported clients. 
Groupware – Desktop Synchronization 
With the in-built clients, following desktop clients can synchronize their Email/Calendar/Contacts/task/Notes with the Server.
  1. Microsoft Outlook (SyncML, IMAP)
  2. Mozilla Thunderbird (CalDAV, IMAP)
  3. Evolution (IMAP, SyncML)
 
Groupware – Mobile Synchronization 
With the use of in-built clients, following Mobile clients can synchronize their Email/Calendar/Contacts/Task/notes with the Server.
  1. IPhone (IMAP, CalDAV)
  2. Android (IMAP, Microsoft ActiveSync, SyncML)
  3. Blackberry (SyncML, Microsoft ActiveSync)
  4. Nokia (SyncML, Microsoft ActiveSync, IMAP)
  5. Windows Mobile (Microsoft Active Sync, SyncML, IMAP)
 
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