I've been on systems with Exchange, Groupwise and Notes. Currently
working with Notes R5. I dont really like any of them - they are all too
cumbersome. I havent worked with any of the new web clients yet - one
thing I really dislike is the monster client they all have. I am happy
that I dont have to try to keep up with all the Outlook security problems
though. We have had zero security problems with Notes R5. I would
rather have a simple email system such as Novell IMS which requires no
administration if you are using NDS. Then use a webserver for intranet
and database front end to take the place of the Notes databases. We use
all the features of Notes but it takes a huge amount of support manhours.
Last I read, Notes has about 60 million seats and Exchange has about 35
million. Everyone else is an also-ran. Whatever features one has over
the other will probably be shortlived, as they tend to converge on the
feature set that the users want. I'm glad I dont have to select one
over the other right now. They are all bloated, too expensive, and a black
hole for support hours.
"Michael L.
Callahan" To: "NT System Admin Issues"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
<michael@call cc:
ista.com> Subject: RE: Exchange 2000
09/08/2001
02:26 PM
Please
respond to
"NT System
Admin Issues"
<sigh> I guess I'll have to weigh in....William Lefkovics has been a
valued poster for years and has proven his worth many times over. You
have not.
Lotus Notes has good collaborative features, but as a mail
server/client, clearly is inferior to Exchange. I speak as one who has
worked with both. Exchange is now catching on in the collaboration
space, and I look for it to supplant Notes there as well - very soon.
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Friday, September 07, 2001 11:58 AM
To: NT System Admin Issues
Subject: RE: Exchange 2000
I never said he wasn't a constant source of outstanding information.
"William" attacked my suggestions. Therefore, I attacked his inability
to
look anywhere but his own paycheck. What did I expect from a newsgroup
called "NT System Admin Issues"? Well, I expected conversation relating
to
NT Systems. And last time I checked, Lotus Domino runs on NT Systems.
[EMAIL PROTECTED] on 09/07/2001 12:49:29 PM
Please respond to "NT System Admin Issues"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "NT System Admin Issues" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
cc:
Subject: RE: Exchange 2000
NATE:
Boy are you EVER OUT OF LINE. William is a constant source of
outstanding
information, and has been for a long time. Secondly, he's not above
looking
at non-ms solutions, and has in fact spent a lot of time researching the
possibility of implementing a totally non-MS dependent office. Finally,
what kind of responses did you expect from a newsgroup called "NT System
Admin Isssues", or a subject called "Exchange 2000".
If you want to commiserate with all the other Lotus Notes folks that
want
to whine about their declining marketshare, go somewhere else. I'm sure
you'll be missed terribly.
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Friday, September 07, 2001 9:34 AM
To: NT System Admin Issues
Subject: RE: Exchange 2000
Billyboy-
I did a little research on Holaday before I posted my comments.
They
have 100 employees in the heart of Minnesota, they manufacture printed
circuit boards, and their web page was created using Microsoft Frontpage
4.0. I understand where your frustrated comments are coming from,
because
I understand where YOU are coming from as a systems administrator.
However, I find it very difficult to take advice from someone whos very
existence is dependant upon the particular company whose software
they're
pushing. In the high-glamour world of MCSEs, the "needs or potential
email
usage patterns" speech sounds great. In the real world, assumptions are
made, budgets are undercut, and profits increase. This, Billy, is
called
business. And business is why you wake up in the morning. Now to
someone
with all those acronyms after their name, this might not make sense.
You
are also going to have to understand that whoever is in charge of the IT
budget at this company is not about to shell out money for a new server
to
run Exchange when they can use the old one to run Domino.
As to the "people" who prefer Outlook over Lotus Notes...where do I
begin? I suppose I must start, again, with the acronyms following your
name. Billy, if you had a Novell Certification, you'd be ranting and
raving about Groupwise. Just because you went to 236 classes, read the
whitepages, AND subscribe to TechNet does not mean that Exchange
provides
the best of anything. It just means that your job DEPENDS on it.
"Lefkovics, William" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> on 09/07/2001 12:14:46
PM
Please respond to "NT System Admin Issues"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "NT System Admin Issues" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
cc:
Subject: RE: Exchange 2000
How can you suggest that those hardware specs would be good for 100
users
without knowing their company's needs or potential email usage patterns?
Your word: "perfect". Potentially adequate might be better.
WindowsXP is an excellent desktop for the business environment. The
additional features from Windows2000 do not provide a huge step, but
things
like remote desktop built-in and the added commandline functions work
very
well for some. That and Windows2000 will not be available OEM anymore,
I
would suggest you get used to the idea of the activation feature, which
is
totally painless in the corporate environment. More painless than
Oracle,
Computer Associates, and the pre-XP Metaframe registration requirements.
As for your recommendation of Lotus Domino... if that's what you're used
to.
I just completed another migration from Lotus to Exchange and yet
another
customer wonders why the hell they stuck with Lotus so long. Outlook
provides the best email client interface available. I've had clients
prefer
Outlook as their Lotus Domino email client!
Lotus used to have the largest market share for collaborative messaging
applications. They don't anymore. Can you guess who does?
Exploring your options is very good. "Best tool for the job"
definitely.
So, do they need the collaborative functionality, or would PostFix on
OpenBSD or Sendmail on Linux for free be adequate?
William Lefkovics
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Friday, September 07, 2001 6:19 AM
To: NT System Admin Issues
Subject: Re: Exchange 2000
Before you implement anything Exchange, I think it is in your best
interest, (as in that of your company, users, and IT staff) to look into
alternative E-mail platforms. My first suggestion would be Lotus
Domino.
Their server software is more stable, easier to administer, and MORE
SECURE
than any of the competetion I have seen. Also, the functionality of the
client software is far superior to anything e-mail coming out of
Redmond,
WA. If your server that you mentioned is now idle and will be
performing
ONLY email functionality, that is perfect for 100 users, and I would bet
you could squeeze in another 100. My suggestion for hard-disk space is
a
mirrored system volume (2 disks). For the data, I would suggest
allocation
100 meg for each user. Disk space is cheap, eat it up. Running 4 10
gig
drives RAID5 would be a beautiful thing. Buy 2 extra, just in case. I
would also recommend, if you want to upgrade desktops, to go with
Windows
2000. Upgrading, loading, installing, whatever you want to call it,
WinXP
could turn out to be a nightmare. Especially with Microsoft's new
Product
Activation "feature". In a business environment, there is no reason, as
far as I have seen, to put WinXP on the desktop. Windows 2000 has
proven
itself to me to be an adequate choice for end use.
I must stress again the importance of exploring your options. Just
because
your OS says Microsoft on it doesn't mean your Backend product has to.
Nathan W.
Jim Mediger <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> on 09/07/2001 09:03:02 AM
Please respond to "NT System Admin Issues"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "NT System Admin Issues" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
cc:
Subject: Exchange 2000
We are looking at implementing Exchange 2000 and I have a few questions,
and
wanted advice from people who have had real world experience. We are
currently
running NT 4.0 Svr and Wkstn. I have setup a Windows 2000 Domain (still
in
testing phase). We have about 100 users.
My Questions:
1. I have a PII with 2 300mhz processors and 384mb ram. Will this be
ample
enough to handle Exchange 2000 and future growth? How much Hard Drive
space
would you recomend?
2. We plan on Going from NT 4.0 to Windows XP. Can we connect to
Exchange
2000
with the NT 4.0 Clients during the interim? Any issues I should be aware
of? Any
issues with WXP?
3. We have 50-60 users on Outlook 2002 with internet access etc., and
40-50
users on other clients (internal e-mail and intranet only). Does
Exchange
play
well with other e-mail clients?
4. Any other Gottcha's, Do's, Don'ts? All advice will be greatly
appreciated.
Thanks,
Jim
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