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NetBox Updating Mail System

After more than seven years, NetBox is upgrading our email system. This is not something we do not do without a considerable amount of thought and client input. We would not make a change in our systems unless we felt that it would give our clients significantly better service. There will be a number of new and improved features which put our clients in fuller control of their email, though one of our standard features will, unfortunately, be lost.

Lost Features

Real-To, the redirection feature which changes headers on outbound messages through the NetBox mail server, will not be supported on the new mail system. The software developed 14 years is not compatible with the new version of the OS. In addition, only a limited number of the NetBox users are currently using this feature. Modern mail programs and other alternatives (such as webmail systems) have resulted the usefulness of the Real-To system to be significantly reduced. We would be happy to work with users for whom this feature is important in transitioning to the new system.

New / Updated Features

The biggest concern of any system is hardware failure. In the past few years NetBox has expected two or three significant system failures which interrupted users access to their email. Our new service takes advantage of distributed hardware on more modern equipment, multiple routes to the network, and increased monitoring to catch and avoid problems.

After stability (and some times before), the volume of unsolicited junk that permeates the internet is a major issue for our users. The NetBox policy has always been that we will not throw away any client's email when it is delivered to our system. This continues to be our general policy, but the new system will provide users tools to manage the junk delivered to their NetBox accounts. The new system will actively evaluate incoming mail to determine if it is spam. Users will have the option to have the messages identified as junk to be marked as such in the subject and passed through to their inbox or isolated in a separate mailbox which can be accessed through a web interface. In addition, the system allows users to indicated addresses that will always be delivered (a white list) or always be blocked (a personal black list). We believe that this will allow our clients much better control over their inboxes and make email management less of a chore.

Forwarding options are expanded to include the option to forward email to a number of other accounts, as users do with the current system, and keep a copy of the message in their NetBox inbox for later retrieval.

The new web home for NetBox users is greatly improved to include a full webmail interface (with calendar and address book functions), vacation message setup, password control, and forwarding options. Users who have used systems like Google Mail or Yahoo Mail, this will be familiar with this - but the NetBox system will not have the advertising.

The limit for online storage of mail will be increased to 2GB with individual message sizes increased to 25MB. This will allow users to keep more of their email online and attach large files without worrying if they will bounce