Gordano closes in on Exchange

The last time Oliver Rist and I looked at Gordano Messaging Suite, we were impressed enough to give it a Technology of the Year award for Best Exchange Killer Application of 2006. At the time we saw it as a system that, despite a little immaturity, had a great deal of potential and functionality.

Gordano has evolved well since our last look. Now in Version 12, the messaging server brings more polish, plus improved calendaring, smoother shared-folder operation, and the enhanced management capabilities.

Sticking to the lower-hardware requirements flaunted by the penguins, we tested GMS on a Pentium III Xeon 1.8GHz server with only 512MB RAM, running RedHat’s Fedora Core 5. One of the features that drew us to GMS is its proclaimed platform independence.

Unfortunately, our first attempt to install came to a halt because of some missing library files. As it turns out, newer versions of RedHat Enterprise Linux and Fedora require the installation of a package of lib compatibility files. After this, everything installed successfully. The product’s touted platform-independence does work as advertised.

Installing GMS proved simpler than did installing Exchange 2007 Beta. The process entails entering your domain name, then basically accepting default options for file locations, components to install, and port numbers. The above-mentioned lib compatibility issue not withstanding, it is a very simple procedure.

From the back end, administration is easy. Everything is done through a Web interface. User authentication is available via Gordano’s internal database, the Unix password database, or an external LDAP directory. LDAP can be used to integrate password management with an Active Directory server.

You also can configure it with the GMS management Web interface; that requires an  Active Directory account with permissions for LDAP queries.

New SNMP functionality allows for better management of the server using standard e-mail and network MIBs, as well as Gordano’s own MIBs. We obtained statistics from our GMS system using a simple PERL script, but it could be monitored by standard packages such as WhatsUp or HP OpenView. Gordano’s MIBs allow monitoring of server statistics such as mail store utilization and running processes.

Migration headache relief

One of our favorite functions from our previous GMS review is still worth highlighting: The Autoport function, which simplifies the usually arduous migration from Exchange. Having gone through many e-mail migrations, both in the InfoWorld testing  real world, I can say authoritatively that Autoport is one of the best options out there for going from Exchange to anything else. The whole thing is configured through the GMS Web-based administration interface.

Autoport setup simply requires you to enter basic target information, including mail server name, and system type. Now all you have to do is wait until a user logs in to his or her new GMS mailbox for the first time, at which point Autoport retrieves the contents of that user’s mailbox from the old system and ports it to GMS.

The time taken for an initial user login and migration depends on the mailbox size.  My test mailbox with 1,000 items took under a minute.  For obvious reasons, users with very large mailboxes would do well to clean up prior to migration. 

Users can access their mailboxes via a Webmail client or Microsoft Outlook. I found the Webmail client easy to use, and I was pleased to see support for Firefox in this new version. Outlook users won’t notice much difference between connecting to a Gordano server on the back end versus an actual Exchange server, beyond the initial setup which requires Gordano collaboration tools to be installed on the desktop.

All of the expected functions are available for Outlook users, including shared folders, contacts, and scheduling.  Clients who only want e-mail without any extra functionality can opt not to install the Gordano Collaboration tools.

Instant messaging, which requires an additional license, is available either through a Web client or a Windows application. We liked the option of having transcripts of IM sessions automatically sent to the user’s mailbox. Gordano also includes the GMS Mobile Gateway to support SMS messaging and other functions such as a lightweight Webmail interface suited to handheld devices.

Gordano Messaging Suite 12 is definitely a contender in the SMBs space. and its viability is boosted now that Exchange 2007 is set to debut with significantly richer server hardware requirements. Gordano can install over current hardware, offering the same or even better performance while providing a full-featured Web-based admin interface. GMS Collaboration tools take good care of users who need Outlook.