RE: [WinMac] Re: E-Mail System Research

Mr Stux(stux[at]mactrix.com)
Fri, 9 Oct 98 10:55:54 +1000

I was using FC back on the 2400 baud modems ;)

These days its come along way but still has many of the original
problems! But they mean more today :)
>Proprietary
BIG PROBLEM. Altho you can now get access to alot of nifty things using
the FCIS API it still is totally non standard... altho this has its good
points, because the standard is a lowest common denominator.
>
>Live connections/supportable load
Hmmmm....

You can cluster it... it supports a gateway mechanism... directory
sharing etc... you can have live links between servers with near instant
replication, you'ld be talking propogation delays of a couple of seconds
MAX

BUT FCIS can be expensive... well it used to be alot cheaper when they
had hobbiest licensing :(, don't see many FC BBi these days :(
>
>Reliability
>It's just not as stable as many SMTP/POP or IMAP options but if you don't
>require 24/7 uptime, that may not be an issue. Some people complain about
>the stability of this or that product but if you have from 6pm 'til 6am the
>next day to work on it, as far as the user is concerned the system may
>never be down.
I've been on FCs which have been up for years. FCIS can be very stable.
The trick is to have a server which is totally dedicated... If you split
your network into separate servers for each division you don't need the
latest powermac to handle and extremely large load... Its very impressive
in that regard

>
>On the plus side:
>The Mac & Win software are very very similar.
Latest ability is FCIS RAD (Rapid Application Development) think Visual
Basic for FCIS...

>You can do forms and all kinds of nice looking messaging internally (fonts,
>colors, etc.).
>The interface has some quirks but in general it's very natural for a GUI
>user.
>It was/is a BBS so you can set up conference areas with message threading
>for different groups, file downloading areas, and live text chatting (which
>can really be a productive tool).
>Actually there may be a way around using the First Class client software. I
>heard there's a web interface in beta which would be really strange but
>potentially useful especially if it doesn't require plugins or Java.
>Again because if its BBS roots, for off-campus use you can set it up with a
>modem pool and have people dial in directly to the server or use it over
>TCP/IP through a PPP connection (naturally you'd use TCP/IP on campus).
>Like IMAP everything is kept on the server side (primarily) so people can
>log in from any computer and use all their own stuff.
>I wouldn't be surprise if SoftArc has a calendaring component but I haven't
>seen it.
>You only pay by the number of simultaneous connections so if the go
>online/go offline method works it could be pretty economical.
Hmmmm, I think you also pay for each user that has a mailbox. Have to
look into this again, we never went beyong the FCIS Demo as it was just
tooo expensive :( (local BBS)
>
>I think I'm in the SMTP/IMAP/LDAP camp. If you've got the expertise you can
>piece it together on a UNIX system or buy it put together by Netscape.
>Netscape has it's problems but so much of what they do follows (or even
>leads) internet standards that it's much easier to go to someone else for
>pieces or the whole thing if you switch later. Start planning now for how

Like was said before... I would like to implement an LDAP system, but at
the moment I don't think its quite there yet. I'll just keep a replicated
address book for now. :)

--
Live Long & Prosper \\//_           <mailto:stux@mactrix.com>
 CYA STUX =`B^)                      \ The Land Down Under /
  'da Captain & Last *-fytr
"The press doesn't really know anything about anything (if they did, they
 would be doing that instead of being a reporter)" - D.K.Every, MacKiDo




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This archive was generated by hypermail 2.0b2 on Thu Oct 08 1998 - 18:00:21 PDT