O'Reilly
September 26, 2000

IMAP Extremely Important as Use of Multiple Computers Increases

Sebastopol, CA--O'Reilly's latest release, Managing IMAP by Dianna Mullet & Kevin Mullet, is both a conceptual and mechanical IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) road map. IMAP is a method of accessing electronic mail or bulletin board messages that are kept on a (possibly shared) mail server. IMAP's ability to access messages (both new and saved) from more than one computer will become extremely important as reliance on electronic messaging and use of multiple computers increase.

"The popularity of the Internet exploded when gopher sites were replaced by the World Wide Web. As IMAP is embraced over the legacy POP3 email access protocol, electronic mail will experience a similar quantum leap in functionality, " says co-author Kevin Mullet. "Considering how important IMAP is to Internet email, we were surprised to find that there was nothing like our book on the market to walk system administrators through the process of moving from a legacy email system to a multi-function IMAP server, and the tricks for managing it once they got there."

The demand for email servers that take advantage of centralized resources to manage mail, rather than heap more tasks on end-user computers, has been answered by incorporating IMAP into virtually every major email server on the market. Consequently, IMAP deployment is expected to increase rapidly over the next three years. Managers, system integrators, and system administrators on the front lines of internet messaging will find Managing IMAP a valuable tool for IMAP system provision, maintenance and support. It is also useful to anyone considering IMAP for their messaging system.

"Now is an especially critical time for the email system administrator to have an excellent IMAP reference at her fingertips," explains Mullet. "It's not enough to know that IMAP exists, or even to know what capabilities it delivers that legacy, monolithic and non-standardized mail systems do not. Some major email products claim to offer standards-compliant IMAP and do not. This book helps separate the wheat from the chaff, giving the system administrator or her manager the tools and information they need to evaluate products which purport to be standards-compliant IMAP servers."

The only book on the market devoted exclusively to IMAP, Managing IMAP covers the IMAP protocol, setting up a client, IMAP security, performance monitoring, and tools. Several chapters are devoted specifically to two of the most popular servers: the University of Washington server, and Cyrus, plus detailed appendixes cover topics such as TCL, procmail, Sieve, and sendmail.

"Kevin and Dianna Mullet have done an outstanding job of presenting practical information on how to install, configure, and manage an IMAP server system. Both major freeware server implementations are covered in detail. I am particularly impressed by how the Mullets have uncovered and fleshed out useful information from mailing list folklore or passing mention in documenting. A book like this has been needed for a long time. It belongs on every server administrator's bookshelf."
--Mark Crispin, creator of IMAP, from the Foreword
Online Resources: Managing IMAP
By Dianna Mullet & Kevin Mullet
1st Edition September 2000
0-596-00012-X, 550 pages, $34.95
order@oreilly.com
1-800-998-9938

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