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Introduction

This chapter provides an overview of the Oracle Email system and describes its major features.

This chapter contains the following topics:

• Oracle Email Overview
• Oracle Email Features

Oracle Email Overview

Oracle Email is a reliable, scalable, and secure messaging system that reduces administration, hardware, and software costs by providing a consolidated mail store.

Oracle Email uses the Oracle9i database as a single message store for e-mail taking advantage of the Oracle core competencies in providing access to, storing, and managing all types of information. Using the highly scalable and reliable Oracle9i message store as a foundation, Oracle Email provides message delivery, standards- based client access, browser-based clients, and administration utilities.

Oracle Email Features

Oracle Email is designed to grow to almost any size while maintaining its performance and ease of administration. The Oracle Email system can be customized based on how many messages need to be stored, how many users access the system under peak loads, and how many messages are sent and received over a period of time. The Oracle Email internet computing architecture enables customers to support thousands of users on a single system, if necessary. Customers have the option of creating a two-tier system with a single host supporting a few thousand users, or a three-tier system with the protocol access servers are separated from the message database supporting many thousands of users. This architecture enables customers to add hardware at any tier, expanding the system to support a virtually unlimited number of users.

Message Store

Oracle Email stores all messages in the Oracle 9i database. This eliminates the need to synchronize message stores. Oracle Email users can access and manage all messages from the interface of their choice, including a Web browser, phone, PDA, and fax machine. The Oracle9i database enables Oracle Email to offer data availability, data integrity, low recovery time, and fault-tolerance capability. Oracle Email takes advantage of Oracle Email multithreading, parallel processing, high availability support, and high performance.

Open Standards-Based Messaging

Oracle Email enables users to access messages with the messaging client of their choice. Messages can be accessed using any client compliant with Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP4) or Post Office Protocol (POP3), such as Netscape Messenger, Microsoft Outlook Express, or Eudora Pro Lite. Oracle Email provides directory services using the light-weight directory access protocol (LDAP) standard compliant Oracle Internet Directory.

Thin Client

The Oracle Email Thin Client provides Internet access to Oracle Email through a standard Web browser. Browser-based clients provide all of the advantages of internet computing: increased reliability because no dedicated client is needed; decreased support and administration costs due to the system being maintained in a professional data center; and increased message access because there are no local message storage requirements. Users can access and manage all aspects of their Oracle Email account from the Thin Client.

Extended Server Side Filters

Oracle Email extends the server side filters that were available in the previous release. Filters now provide additional predefined actions that can be applied to a wider range of mail events, including sending, forwarding, deleting, and expunging a message from the system. These filters include a PL/SQL Application Programming Interface (API) that enables customers to write their own customized actions for filters. Server side filters also provide integration with the Oracle9i Advanced Queueing to enable sophisticated e-business applications to work with mail. Server Side Filters can be used to identify and delete virus messages as they come. In addition, there is a standalone virus cleanup utility that can be used to scan the whole mail system for virus infections.

Integration With Other Applications

PL/SQL and Java programmers can create custom applications to integrate Oracle Email with other applications. Oracle Email APIs enable applications to directly manipulate stored messages as well as create outgoing messages that follow the MIME standard. Large numbers of messages can be processed and managed by applications integrated with Oracle Email combined with server side filters.

Enhanced Administration Features

Oracle Email simplifies administration and management by integrating with Oracle Enterprise Manager, enabling consolidated, Web-based management of the total Oracle environment as well as integration into existing system monitoring infrastructures. Oracle Email also supports multiple domains with delegated administration on the same system, enabling hosting.