I am in the process of replacing my old sendmail/popper mail server. What I am trying to decide is what mail application to use to setup a new new mail server. I know sendmail has a number of security issues and being in the healthcare field this is potentiall unacceptable especailly due to HIPPA considerations. I am also needing the ability to check mail for viruses and be able to use SquirelMail.

I have done some research and am considering QMail but it worries me that there is a huge document telling you about how it handles some operating system issues in a non standard way.
Any ideas are appreciated.

qmail is a very nice product, and I have heard that postfix also addresses some of sendmail's security issues. AFAIK, sendmail in its current form would be jsut as secure as any other daemon, as most if not all of the known issues were fixed almost as soon as they were found.

If you are looking for virus protection as well (useful if your mail server has Windows Clients) then check out Mailarmor. It is a commercial product, but does a fairly good job of screening out most known viruses.

As for security, as long as your network is properly isolated and protected by the requsite firewall/proxy/dmz setup (or any other combination of security features) I don't think you will be any less secure than any other healthcare organization's mail server.

slight

Hi,

My vote would go with postfix, it's fast,secure,well documented and it sets up very nicely in both k-mail and evolution. Just my two cent's, I'm sure there will be others.

Dave S.

djkene70,

The main problem with qmail is there isn't one distribution. There are many patches running around for all kinds of things. Using you distrobution's package can help with that. Also, qmail doesn't do things quite like other programs, but once you get it, it usually makes sense. I wouldn't worry about sendmail's problems if you are willing to keep up on the latest exploits. (But that will be true of any system you run.)

I like postfix as well, but I'm going to say that it really doesn't matter which one you choose. They all have the same featuresThe most important thing it that you understand how the program works and is configured. Go download the documentation for each (exim, postfix, qmail, sendmail, courier) and browse the documentation. Which one is understandable to you? Which one would you want to work with if you had to fix a problem in ten minutes? Try installing the ones you like and take them for a test spin. If it makes your head hurt, don't use that one.

Just remember to document how you configured it. It will save you headaches later :)

Good Luck,
chris