| dc.description.abstract | A mail server is an application that receives incoming e-mail from local users and remote senders and forwards outgoing e-mail for delivery. It is also known as a mail transfer agent or MTA, a mail transport agent, a mail router or an Internet mailer. A computer dedicated to running such applications is also called a mail server. In today's electronic world, email is critical to any business being competitive. In most cases it now forms the backbone of most organisations' day-to-day activities, and its use will continue to grow. The major problem faced with many business enterprises and other organizations today regarding mail services is insecurity- which is lack of email confidentiality, integrity, availability and regulator compliance. Due to the necessity of email communications and the costs associated with it, many organizations end up using insecure email systems which are poorly designed, configured or managed. There is therefore a need to find a way of implementing a mail server with salient well tested security features at minimum possible costs. This research dwells on how to do this by using open source messaging server with the required in-built security features like SSL/TLS and LDAP. The standard features of the chosen mail server have been extended using add-ons to enable it have VoIP capabilities which would also help organizations cut costs emanating from telephone bills. This project implements a messaging system solution that uses enhanced Zimbra Collaboration Suite (ZCS) which comes with in-built security features such as SSL/TLS and LDAP at minimum costs since it is open source. The Project used CentOS 5.5 x86_64 bits as the operating system. Webmin-1.620-1.noarch.rpm used to provide a web based console for administration of the Linux operating system. Bind9 was used to create the DNS server. The mail server was Zimbra Collaboration Suite (ZCS) 64 bit- zcs-7.0.0_ GA_3077.RHEL5 _64.20110127201852.tgz. Zimlets were used for integration with other applications and Asterisk• used to enable the implementation of VoIP. The computer hardware used had Pentium(R) Dual-Core CPU, E5500 @2.80GHz 2.80GHz; memory was 2.00 GB; the hard disk drive was 320 GB SAT A. Network devices used were Cisco router and 3 com switch. LDAP is used for Single Sign-On (SSO) in order to monitor all users from one point. Note that ZCS integrates well with all platforms like MS windows, Mac and Linux. It also integrates with mobile systems (smart phones) without additional software installed in the clients, except Blackberry. | en_US |