SLmail supplies a rich feature set. In addition to the primary functions of a mail server, there are many other functions a server can perform. These features are discussed in more complete detail in the following chapters.
SLmail can handle mail for more than one domain. If you need to present more than one presence to the world (more than one company name or organization name), you do not need to have more than one email server. SLmail will allow you to use Floras_Restaurant.com and Floras_Catering.com on the same email server.
SLmail 5.x now allows secondary domains to be set up as true user type accounts, which means you no longer need to forward mail from secondary domains to the primary domain for common usernames like webmaster and postmaster.
You can set SLmail to automatically reply to mail received at certain addresses. For example, you can set SLmail to automatically deliver a file containing information on your company's products when a customer sends a request to products@yourcompany.com. You can configure auto responders to deliver immediate information to customers in a timely manner.
Auto responders can now handle 8-bit characters.
Users can set options to have their mail forwarded to other accounts, locally or on other systems.
Mail can be redirected from a generic department name to a real person. For example, you can redirect sales@yourcompany.com to your sales manager's mailbox, or marketing@yourcompany.com to your marketing manager.
Prominent among SLmail features is the function of a list server. The mailing list functions provided by a list server allow a user to send a single piece of email to multiple recipients. This is a widely used feature not only for mass mailings, but also for moderated discussion groups. SLmail's list server is extremely powerful and allows many configuration options, which make the list server valuable in a number of contexts. It also provides extremely high performance (speed measured by how many mail messages may be sent out in a specified period of time).
Unlike many email servers, SLmail does not require a dedicated connection to the Internet. It is capable of using Windows Dial-Up Networking to make the Internet connection automatically for sending and receiving email. This means SLmail can save you money, and it can be used on sites where no other email server will succeed.
SLmail provides protection against the reception of unsolicited email through the use of IP address and Domain/Name filtering. SLmail also allows you to set up filters for incoming messages based on the sender (IP or name), attachment type, and message contents. With SLmail's Mail Filtering option, you can easily protect your users from receiving junk email, potentially malicious attachments, and objectionable content.
Filtered mail can be dropped completely or redirected to an address of your choice.
Filter searches can be made on single words or phrases. The filters also support multi part Multi-Purpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME).
SLmail allows you to secure your mail server from unauthorized use by outside sources through the use of SMTP Relay Filtering. You can enter both allowed and restricted IP addresses or IP address ranges for those who may or may not use your mail server to send mail to other domains. SLmail also offers a new feature, which allows authenticated POP3 relay access.
SLmail allows you to keep a database (either Microsoft Access or SQL) file of all of your mail traffic. The tracking filters allow you set parameters to pinpoint messages to or from a specific domain, look at all messages in a given time frame, and keep track of your mail traffic at a glance. The filters make easy work of pinpointing the information that you want without having to search through log files or an entire database file.
The Message Management Report tool allows you to search your message database. Searches can be made for individual users, domains, or over a certain time frame. The search results can be downloaded as a CSV file for manipulation and display in most spreadsheet applications.
Administrators can set mailbox size limits. These limits can be set globally (for all users on the server), per domain (all users for a domain on the server), or per individual users. You can also set the quota for unlimited (depends on system resources) mailbox disk space.
Administrators can set individual message size limits. The total size of the message (including all attachments) is checked and if it exceeds the set limit, the message is rejected.
With SLmail's Web-based Administration Utility, you can now administer your local SLmail server from any web browser connected to the Internet. The SL Products Group includes a shortcut for the Web administration of SLmail.
SLmail integrates seamlessly with Seattle Lab's Web-based email host, Emurl, to extend the features of SLmail over the World-Wide Web. When Emurl is added to email, any user can get and send email using only a web browser. No email client is required. This is ideal for supporting mobile users or users in a laboratory environment (such as a school), where users do not have their own individual PCs.
SLmail's feature list continues to grow. SLmail offers the widest variety of features that are important to administrators who need to keep users happy. The list currently includes:
Finger and Reverse Finger to allow for mail notification responses
Access to incoming mail in mailboxes through the UNIX mailbox-type format and POP3 server support
Configurable connection methods and the ability to specify groups of connections based on the node or class of nodes
Ability to restrict the sending of auto-responses to avoid many bounce situations ahead of time