Axigen
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Contents |
[edit] Short history
| AXIGEN Mail Server | |
| Developer: | http://www.axigen.com/ |
|---|---|
| Latest release: | 2.0 / November 2006 |
| OS: | GNU/Linux, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD, Solaris |
| Use: | Server |
| License: | Closed source / Demoware |
| Website: | http://www.axigen.com/mail-server/ |
AXIGEN is a fast, reliable and secure mail transfer agent (MTA), providing SMTP/ESMTP, IMAP, POP3 and Webmail services, with an integrated Mailing List server.
The development of AXIGEN Mail Server started in 2003. The project states its goals as "building an innovative messaging solution, virtually adaptable to any platform, network architecture or business environment."
Launched in September 2004, AXIGEN's development quickly took off and gathered new users and now powers over 300,000 mailboxes worldwide, according to the data released[1] by Gecad. AXIGEN is now available for many Linux distributions (RPM-based w/o gcc4, Slackware, Debian, Gentoo, Ubuntu), BSD platforms and for Solaris. [1]. The development plan includes MacOS and Windows versions.
[edit] Key features
AXIGEN is a modular, production class Linux mail server. According to the September issue of Linux Magazin[2], "a collection of modules support the expected mail services, including POP3 and IMAP4 with support for SSL/TLS secure connections. Axigen also includes a list server module, supporting automated listservs. Its message-filtering module promises a great deal of power and flexibility for managing spam, viruses and other content-based disturbances. But, nearly all of this power is outsourced to external software via Axigen's API."[3]
AXIGEN provides a very flexible event collection feature, enabling users to select different categories of events to log, from the most basic to the most detailed. Users also have the choice among remote or local logging locations/services. External filters can send logs to the same log service and the logs can be viewed in a common reporting or alert interface.
AXIGEN uses firewall-like rules for mail communication protocols, advanced filtering system with Sieve scripting, support for anti-SPAM and antivirus, supplies an API for external custom filters in order to ensure server security.
"Although Axigen suggests support for anti-spam and anti-virus defenses, both are provided through plug-ins to third-party software, namely ClamAV and Spam Assassin. While both are free software, Axigen's reliance on integration with these third-party tools slightly undermines the advantage of a turnkey solution."[4]
"AXIGEN provides support for classical Webmail functions, including an easy directory structure. Very handy for the administrator: many daily activities are done by the user himself, as he can modify his options and user information all the way to his password, without external help. Stress tests show that the Webmail GUI has no problems handling several thousand e-mails in the user Inbox."[5]
Authentication and encryption features are also available at IP level - SPF(Sender Policy Framework) authentication as well as at user level - plain and CRAM-MD5, while the communication can be SSL/TLS encrypted.
AXIGEN can be managed using the central Web Admin, the Command Line Interface, the configuration file or the Provisioner tool. "Admins who prefer to configure the server old-school can work directly on its text-mode configuration file. The server also offers a command-line interface for manual execution of commands and batch scripts for automating tasks."[6]
The key pros and cons identified by Server Watch[7] while testing the solution are[8]:
Pros: Quick deployment compared to popular Linux/BSD mail server solutions; Comprehensive Web administration; Webmail server included.
Cons: Lacks guided configuration; Falls back on integration with third-party software for important anti-spam and anti-virus defenses.
[edit] Feature list
- SMTP/ESMTP, POP3, IMAP4 and Web Mail
- SSL/TLS encryption
- Integrated list server
- Multithreaded engine with module thread control
- Simultaneous resource access
- Mail storage with index based access
- In depth connection control
- Firewall-like communication rules
- User authentication: plain, CRAM MD5
- Configurable via Configuration file, CLI (Command Line Interface) tools, Web administration, Delegated administration
- Multilevel filtering system (server level, domain level, user level)
- Antivirus and anti-SPAM support
- API for external custom filters
- Customizable filtering scripts (Sieve filtering)
- SPF authentication
- Log server (user defined level logging services)
- Local or remote log collection
- Real time server monitoring
- Supported platforms: LINUX distro: Gentoo, Red Hat, SuSE, Mandrake, Fedora
- ClamAV Antivirus
- SpamAssassin AntiSPAM
- WebMail supported browsers: IE5+, Mozilla 1.7.*/ Firefox, Opera 8, Konqueror 3.4, Netscape 6+
