Mail Server System Requirements

Operating System Requirements

Merak Mail Server is a multi-platform software and runs under many popular systems, as a daemon under Linux, as a service with modern Windows Servers and Workstation and as an application under legacy Windows versions. This allows you to leverage your existing operating system licenses, or to migrate to an open source solution to minimize investment and maximize server security.

  • MS Windows NT (n.a. for WebMail), 2000, 2003 Server/Workstation
  • Native 32-bit application, runs in 64-bit compatibility mode
  • MS Windows 98, ME, XP (Home, Professional), Vista
  • Latest Service Packs and hot-fixes
  • x86 Linux distribution, RedHat Enterprise Linux or CentOS recommended
  • System independent PHP 5.2.2 included

Hardware Requirements

The Mail Server Engine s extremely resource aware and will run even on modest hardware. Exact requirements are dependent upon many variables including services traffic, user activity, resource settings of intensive features such as full body text searching, the number of add-on modules and communication usage patterns and much more. This is especially true for determining disk storage capacity.


If you expect heavy traffic, consider using:


  • Dual-CPU system
  • Xeon processor or better
  • 1GB RAM minimum
  • Fast disk sub-system (SerialATA, SCSI, RAID)
  • External fileserver for data storage
  • Backup is recommended for ISP-class installations

Recommendations
# of Users (all domains) Estimated HDD volume Recommended HW/SW configurations
1 - 50 5 GB Win2000/XP/2003, CPU 750Mhz+, RAM 256MB
51 - 2,000 100-200 GB Win2000/2003 Server, CPU 1.5Ghz, RAM 1GB
2,001 - 5,000 200 GB in RAID MS SQL 2000/2003, Win2000/2003 Server, Dual CPU 2Ghz, RAM 2GB
5,001 and more RAID or NAS Load-balanced setup with dedicated database and backup storage

Most small to middle businesses will require only one computer. For large installations, inquire for a free consultation with our engineers.

Networking

Only TCP/IP is required to use Merak Email Server on a LAN for local email solution (office network). Connection to Internet can be accomplished in multiple ways, for MTA functionality, permanent connection is a prerequisite.

  • Permanent connection
  • Scheduled dial-up
  • RAS access
  • Dial on demand router
  • Local TCP/IP for internal LAN usage

Registered domain name with correctly configured DNS MX and rDNS A records are required for Internet mail exchange and server credibility. There are options to help identification of possible errors.

  • Automatic DNS configuration from OS settings
  • Built-in server diagnostics, DNS tests
  • DNS Query troubleshooting utility

Firewall is strongly recommended to close ports not in use.