Managing IMAP
Plain old Post Office Protocol (POP) is fine for just logging in and  grabbing your e-mail from a dial-up service, but more elaborate mail-management  and messaging solutions require a more capable protocol. The Internet Mail  Access Protocol (IMAP) fits the bill by allowing you to pull off all sorts of  mail-management tricks. With IMAP, a single user can see the same messages and  folders on many computers, or multiple users (say, members of a sales team) each  can integrate a common folder into individual organizational hierarchies.Managing IMAPshows how to perform these feats and many others, and  presents a rigorous comparison of IMAP clients and servers.On the server side, the book focuses on the University of Washington IMAP  server--the standard implementation that IMAP inventor Mark Crispin wrote--and  the feature-rich Cyrus IMAP server. The features of each are explained, in  addition to how each integrates with its operating system. "Common Tasks" for  each are covered, including details of precisely what system administrators have  to do to establish access privileges on a mailbox, add users, set up shared  folders, and so on through their respective feature sets. Most of the how-to  material takes the form of "type this, get that" listings, with plenty of  annotation that explains what's going on. Later sections are platform-neutral,  covering security (perhaps better covered in specialized texts), spam filtering,  and performance optimization.Managing IMAPhas done a great job of  cataloguing and commenting upon the various IMAP administration utilities that  exist.--David WallTopics covered:The Internet Mail Access Protocol (IMAP) and its  implementation, especially in the University of Washington's IMAP server and the  Cyrus IMAP server. After presenting the case for IMAP and comparing it to Post  Office Protocol (POP), the book shows how to set up and administer both major  IMAP servers. It also compares IMAP clients. Other topics that are covered  include security, user management, and scalability. A directory of IMAP  administration interfaces and an IMAP command reference round out the volume.