intech@thestar.com.my

KUALA LUMPUR: The homegrown MailNow! 5 e-mail management solution is ready for the prime time and to take on international competitors, InternetNow International Sdn Bhd director Marcus Low said.

The latest version, which was totally re-written and developed from the ground-up for two years, leverages on the latest Ajax technology that supports drag-and-drop functions, right-click menus as well as multiple themes for discerning users.

Also available are a host of new features, including Individual Transactional Logging, Hybrid Storage System and Distributed Intrinsic Scheduler.

According to Low, managing an e-mail server is more complicated than it seems as there are many problems that end users are not aware of.

For example, one of the common tasks for a web administrator is to find out what happened to incoming e-mail that was supposed to have arrived or an outgoing e-mail that was supposed to have been delivered.

“When this occurs, admins often have to resort to digging around inside large log files — which normally are too cryptic,” he said.

The built-in Individual Transactional Logging eliminates this problem by assigning each e-mail with a ticket with its own log file that can be easily retrieved via the web console in real-time, Low said.

Hybrid system

Traditionally, e-mail servers use either database or file storage systems and each comes with their own weakpoints, Low said.

A database storage system provides fast access but data can easily be corrupted while a file storage system is more stable but slower when it comes to search queries, he explained.

To overcome this, MailNow! 5 has a hybrid system, which combines the open-source Mbox (database) and MailDir (files) storage solutions to provide users the best of both worlds.

The Distributed Intrinsic Scheduler feature kicks in when one domain takes up the majority of bandwidth to send e-mail and delays the delivery of e-mail from other domains.

A smart algorithm and fair policy ensure that e-mail from all domains are treated equally to prevent delivery delays.

Interestingly, MailNow! 5 comes with a certain element of artificial intelligence (AI) to allow direct interaction with users.

According to Low, the e-mail server has an identity or avatar — which he simply called “Robot” — that users can chat with like a person via MSN Messenger.

The Robot can notify users of incoming e-mail and monitor for services running on the other server for any downtime.

Admins can also instruct it to retrieve certain log files while other users can simply chat with the avatar when they feel like it.

“However, bear in mind this is sort of like a therapeutic chat — very raw and rudimentary and not for professional or serious use,” he said.

The company has more ambitious plans for the AI system, including introducing a higher level of intelligence but for now, InternetNow is keeping everything under wraps.

MailNow! 5 is available in two versions: MailNow! 5 with antispam and antivirus features is priced from RM1,000 for five users plus a 30% fee chargeable on yearly basis.

The second version without the security features starts from RM500 for five users plus a 5% to 10% annual fee.

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www.internetnow.com.my