Virtually everything - not just computers, but every kind of device - is coming on board the Internet, and the two principal applications are the World Wide Web and email. The POP3 model for online-only messaging is being taxed to its limit, and users clearly would like mail servers with more "oomph." More specifically, the demand is for email servers that take advantage of centralized resources to manage mail, rather than heap more tasks on end-user computers. This clamour has resulted in the IMAP protocol being incorporated into virtually every major email server on the market. This text is a guide for everyday tasks common to most IMAP servers as well as a concise reference to help navigate the sometimes sparsely and obtusely documented open source software. Whether the goal is more insight into the IMAP server and client or utility software, or big-picture strategic suggestions to get off a legacy system, Managing IMAP aims to help. The book is both a conceptual and a mechanical IMAP road map. Managers, system integrators, and system administrators on the front lines of Internet messaging should find it a valuable tool for IMAP system provision, maintenance and support.
It is also useful to anyone considering IMAP for their messaging system. It covers the IMAP protocol, setting up a client, IMAP security, performance monitoring, and tools. Several chapters are devoted specifically to two of the most popular servers: the University of Washington server and Cyrus, and detailed appendixes cover topics such as TCL, procmail, Sieve, and sendmail.