Excerpts from mail: 7-Jul-94 Re: e-mail over AFS ! [EMAIL PROTECTED] (790)
> What're the advantages of putting the spool
> into AFS if you're going to use a networked transport layer (kPOP3)
> anyway?
1) Enhanced scalability and ease of management though server
replication: users could access any participating POP server to
retrieve and post mail; new servers could be added at any time without
changing the system configuration; servers could be upgraded, removed or
repaired without interruption of customer service; single points of
failure could be eliminated or significantly reduced; POP server disk
space could be dynamically managed and essentially unlimited in scope;
user quota management would become trivial.
2) Automated nightly backup. Adding a POP/IMAP service to your DFS/AFS
enterprise wouldn't reqire any additional provisions for backup
managemenet.
3) Provision for natural migration to or integration with IMAP. POP
servers can concurrently run an IMAP service. Since IMAP keeps mail on
the server (often in /usr/spool/mail) instead of downloading it to the
client, users's mail can be backed up, kerberos-protected and accessible
from any participating server if stored in AFS or DFS.
Use of kPOP or kIMAP merely keeps passwords off the net -- it doesn't
address data protection on either the server or client.
> We use hesiod to resolve the particular pop server for the
> user
Hesiod's an elegant solution for certain academic sites, but the overall
system of POP/IMAP used in concert with AFS/DFS would be much more
useful (and palatable) for general consumption if similar functionality
could be accomplished using standards-based, off-the-shelf software.
