Exchange Server Alternative that works well for Macs

[RogerIvy]

Hi Folks

We're looking to move off Exchange Server. We currently run ES2010 and need to host two separate domains, found that it's horribly complex to do and we'll need about 3GB RAM just for a mail server for about 25 clients.

So... anyone have experience with the various alternatives out there?
We have these devices:
1. A bunch of macs
2. A small handful of Windows - I guess they can use iMap if it works properly - but I've read about emulating connectors)
3. A whole bunch of iPhones and one or two iPads
4. Might even have one or two droids (but they would be too ashamed to tell me )

Anyone help with some info?
Rog

 

[dmmcintyre3]

http://www.google.com/apps/intl/en/group/index.html free or $50/user/year if you need the advanced features.

 

[RogerIvy]

Thanks for the suggestion dmmcintyre3, but we want to host the data ourselves.

I've looked at hMailServer but it doesn't do calendar stuff.

 

[gramirez2012]

GroupWise?

http://www.novell.com/products/groupwise/

 

[Silencio]

Kerio Connect. I've been running this at one of my client sites for the past 4-5 years and been pleased with it. Supports CalDAV and CardDAV, does Exchange/ActiveSync with your iPhones. Your Windows clients can use IMAP or Kerio Outlook Connector to push contacts and calendars.

It's a lot cheaper and more Mac-friendly than Exchange, and you can run the server on our choice of Mac, Windows, or Linux server.

http://www.kerio.com/connect

What hardware do you plan on running the server on? Kerio doesn't require blazing fast CPU or tons of RAM, but fast storage makes a difference. I'm currently running our Kerio server on a Dual 1.42GHz MDD G4 with 7200RPM internal SATA drives in a mirrored RAID, serving 20 fairly heavy users. It performs fairly well, though I'm looking to upgrade my hardware in 2011.

 

[RogerIvy]

How does KerioConnect compare with Zimbra standard appliance in terms of functionality?
(Zimbra is considerably cheaper)

 

[RogerIvy]

What hardware do you plan on running the server on?

We have a MS Hyper-V server running several VM's. Planning to throw about 2GB of RAM at it and one processor. It's running on fairly fast RAID - about to upgrade to a faster Adaptec controller.

 

[Silencio]

I know very little about Zimbra, not having researched it in a number of years. For calendar sharing, does it support CalDAV, or does it only support Exchange / ActiveSync connections? I don't expect their integration with Apple's software clients or the iPhone will be as good as what Kerio offers, but I could be wrong. Zimbra's web client looks better than Kerio's.

Kerio Connect does ship in a few virtual machine formats such as VMX, OVF, and Parallels, so you should be fine to download one of those and check out the 30-day demo.

 

[RogerIvy]

We've been testing KerioConnect and SmarterMail.
So far SmarterMail is winning - mainly because it actually works nicely with iPhones. Kerio have a way to go before they are stable with iPhones (the contacts sync doesn't work. No error message or anything, simply doesn't show the contacts). Kerio is also quite kludgy when setting up the Address Book on a mac.
Neither of the two seem to support folders in contacts.
Kerio's webmail looks nicer than SmarterMail (purely in terms of look 'n feel).
SmarterMail's documentation is much better than Kerio.

We'll have a look at Zimbra next, but it looks like the appliance seems to be quite limited and other Zimbra solutions are expensive.

 

[Silencio]

We've been testing KerioConnect and SmarterMail.
So far SmarterMail is winning - mainly because it actually works nicely with iPhones. Kerio have a way to go before they are stable with iPhones (the contacts sync doesn't work. No error message or anything, simply doesn't show the contacts). Kerio is also quite kludgy when setting up the Address Book on a mac.
Neither of the two seem to support folders in contacts.
Kerio's webmail looks nicer than SmarterMail (purely in terms of look 'n feel).
SmarterMail's documentation is much better than Kerio.

We'll have a look at Zimbra next, but it looks like the appliance seems to be quite limited and other Zimbra solutions are expensive.

For the Contacts, are you trying to use CardDAV or Kerio Sync Connector? The former should be the preferred solution for syncing contacts between a Mac, an iPhone, and the mail server, but it requires Snow Leopard on the Mac client side and Kerio's implementation has been buggy so far.