Notes from CCEI Technical sub-committee
August 15, 2005 Meeting
2:00 – 3:00 pm, Nelson BoardRoom N3220
http://www.ncsu.edu/ccei
Attending:
Donna Barrett COM
Jim Holland CVM
Sarah Noell ITD
Larry Robinson ITD
Rob Grau ITECS
Ray Kimsey CALS/Ext IT
Cheri Renninger ETSS
Vic Lynn ETSS
Craig Zimmer ETSS
Harry Nicholos ITD
Matt Valenzisi ComTech
Mike Freeman COT
Joe Flowers CHASS
Aaron Peeler ITECS
Rob Main NCSU Libraries
Mark Williams COE
The Technical sub-committee is now meeting weekly. As per the 7/26 meeting, committee members were asked to research products based on the fishbone diagram that we created. Vic Lynn presented his research and Harry talked about revising solution sets based on feedback from committee members.
Vic Lynn:
Product Evaluation of GroupWise for the CCEI
Calendar Intersystem Operability – GroupWise ACL’s can be applied to resources that can be administered by a User or System Administrators.
Open Protocols & Standards – Supports most of the largely accepted standards
Vcal/ical – Yes
CalDAV – Not yet
CAP - Yes
XML – Yes with a third party application
IMAP - Yes
POP - Yes
SMTP – Yes
Novell is a founding member of The Calendaring & Scheduling Consortium (calconnect.org)
Mobile devices– Any of the following wireless devices:
Any wireless device that supports the Wireless Access Protocol (WAP) and has a microbrowser that uses Handheld Device Markup Language (HDML) 3.0 or later or Wireless Markup Language (WML) 1.1 or later
A Palm OS device with any Palm OS version that supports Web Clipping Applications (PQAs)
A Windows CE device with any Windows CE version
Novell supplies PDA Connect for synchronizing e-mail, calendar and contacts on PDA’s
Blackberry support using the Blackberry Desktop Manager and further enhanced by using Blackberry Enterprise Server for GroupWise
Several Third party vendors have products to enhance mobile support.
Web clients – Any of the following Web browsers:
Linux: Mozilla 1.4 or later and comparable Mozilla-based browsers; Konqueror 3.1.4 or later and comparable Konqueror-based browsers
Windows: Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 or later; Netscape Navigator 4.0 or later
Macintosh: Safari 1.0 or later and other comparable Konqueror-based browsers, Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.5 or higher; Netscape Navigator 4.51 or higher
UNIX: Netscape 4.0 or higher; Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 or higher
Enhancements – Around 150 third party developers and an active user community that creates utilities and adds features.
Calendar has granular ACLs – GroupWise ACL’s can be applied to resources that can be administered by a User or System Administrators.
Backup and Restores – Is possible with software provided by Novell or third party venders. Agents from Novell allow for backing up of open files and databases without bringing a PO down. Restores can be setup to allow users to restore their own messages and calendar items. Address books/Contacts can be exported to a file by a user and imported back at any time. A similar process can be used by a System administrator on a restored PO to get back Contacts.
Highly Configurable – Yes
Rules are easy to setup and use.
Look and Feel has been debatable over the years - inconsistencies in the past have been improved. Starting to look similar to Outlook. Next version due out soon improves look and feel even more.
Event Calendars – Yes, Currently Event Calendars and Resources Calendars are created by an Administrator and administered by a User. In GroupWise 7, customers will be able to create and administer Resource and Event Calendars. Today you can have layered calendars using third party software, however, in GroupWise 7 functionality is built in.
Resources Calendars – Same as above
Virus and Spam filtering – Yes, has Junk mail handling in the client that allows for Junk Mail list, Trusted Mail list and Blocked Mail list. RBL’s, whitelist and blacklist supported on the GWIA. Lots of third party support including Pure Message enhances the ability and adds virus filtering.
Shared Mailboxes – Yes, a user can set proxy rights to any account they own. Very granular you can also have shared folders, shared calendars and shared address books. It is recommended to keep shared items among user on the same PO but doesn’t have to be.
Attachment Processing – Yes in both the fat client and the web access client. Customers have the option to view attachments via the built-in attachment viewer or launch an associated application upon double clicking within the client.
Customer Archiving – Yes, can be done by a customer or automated by the system. Can lock down location or allow user to pick a location. The settings can be set on user, Post Office or Domain. Currently cannot access archives through web client.
Reporting Capabilities – Yes using GWCHECKS, GroupWise Monitor and logs. Includes auditing ability to show inactive accounts. Lots of third party software applications to enhance capability.
Scripting to and from calendar – Yes natively using SOAP API’s built in and with third part products – Formative by Advansys http://www.advansyscorp.com/formativ_features.htm
Backup and Restores – Is possible with software provided by Novell or Third party venders. Agents from Novell allow for backing up of open files and databases without bringing a PO down. Restores can be setup to allow users to restore their own messages and calendar items. Address book restoration is possible but takes more administration.
Highly configurable – Yes
Rules are easy to setup and use.
Look and Feel has been debatable over the years - inconsistencies in the past have been improved. Starting to look similar to Outlook. The look is configurable to suit your taste. Next version due out soon improves look and feel and allows for more configurable items. Web access client is also configurable as it runs on Apache and comes with a Web access customization tool.
Hundreds of configuration items using ConsoleOne
Delegated Administration – Yes, setup in ConsoleOne.
Virus and Spam filtering – Yes, has Junk mail handling in the client that allows for Junk Mail list, Trusted Mail list and Blocked Mail list. RBL’s, whitelist and blacklist supported on message to and from the internet. Lots of third party support including Pure Message enhances the ability and adds virus filtering.
Shared Mailboxes – Yes, a user can set proxy rights to any account they own. Very granular you can also have shared folders, shared calendars and shared address books. It is recommended to keep shared items among user on the same PO but doesn’t have to be.
Attachment Processing – Yes in both the fat client and the web access client. Customers have the option to view attachments via the built-in attachment viewer or launch an associated application upon double clicking within the client.
Efficient use of Storage – Yes, Only keeps 1 copy of a message per PO using a pointer based system. Can implement mailbox size restriction, expire and reduce messages or setup archiving. The settings are granular allowing for them to be set at the User, PO, or Domain level.
Provision/de-provision – Yes, Using eDirectory you can setup groups and apply a set of Rights and rules that apply to just that group
Report Capabilities – Yes using GWCHECKS, GroupWise Monitor and logs. Includes auditing ability to show inactive accounts. Lots of third party software applications to enhance capability.
Vendor Software Support – Novell offers several support options including premium support that will bypass the first tier. We purchase their Academic support pack that has 20 premium support calls for $7,000 of year. Can buy a single call or smaller packages. Support is 24x7x365 days a year. We have had great support in the past and have even been able to get new code added to fix a problem.
Hardware – 32-bit/x86 processor
Any of the following server operating systems for the GroupWise agents (Post Office Agent, Message Transfer Agent, Internet Agent, WebAccess Agent, Monitor Agent):
NetWare® 4.2, NetWare 5.1, or NetWare 6.x, plus the latest Support Pack for your version of NetWare
SUSE® LINUX Standard Server 8, SUSE LINUX Enterprise Server 8, SUSE LINUX Enterprise Server 9, Red Hat* Enterprise Linux 3 ES, or Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS
The X Window System is required by the GUI Installation Advisor and Setup Advisor that step you through the process of creating a new GroupWise system. A text-based Installation Advisor is also available. The X Windows System and OpenMotif* are required by the GUI user interfaces for the GroupWise agents. The agents can also run as daemons without user interfaces.
Windows NT* Server, Windows 2000 Server, or Windows 2003 Server, plus the latest Service Pack for your version of Windows
NDS® or eDirectoryTM (any version on any platform; however, if you want to use LDAP with GroupWise, eDirectory 8.5 or later is required.)
GroupWise 6.5 for Linux includes eDirectory 8.7.3 for Solaris*, Linux, and AIX*. However, eDirectory 8.7.3 is not supported on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 ES or AS. An eDirectory update supporting Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 ES or AS will be available soon.
No additional cost for the software. GroupWise is part of our campus Academic License Agreement (ALA) with Novell. For $140,000 a year we get
- Open Enterprise Server (this includes NetWare and SuSE)
- Zen for Desktops
- Zen for Servers
- NetMail
- GroupWise
- Novell NSure Identity Manager Standard Edition (think this used to be
DirXML)
- Novell NSure Identity Manager Integration module for Windows
*In addition we purchase Novell Cluster Services.
Support for Clients – See scalabilty section.
Vendor Software support – Novell offers several support options including premium support that will bypass the first tier. We purchase their Academic support pack that has 20 premium support calls for $7,000 of year. Can buy a single call or smaller packages. Support is 24x7x365 days a year. We have had great support in the past and have even been able to get new code added to fix a problem.
Training Materials – Lots of training materials available from Novell and from 3rd party vendors. The Computer Training Unit at the McKimmon Center is currently doing GroupWise training for ETSS GroupWise customers.
Training requirements – To be determined.
Authentication – Can use LDAP or eDirectory, Can be used with Single Sign-on.
Virus and Spam filtering – Yes, has Junk mail handling in the client that allows for Junk Mail list, Trusted Mail list and Blocked Mail list. RBL’s, Whitelist and Blacklist supported on the GWIA (agent that routes mail to the internet). Lots of third party support including Pure Message enhances the ability and adds virus filtering.
Intrusion Security – Yes. Can set the number of login attempts and the amount of time that the account is locked out.
Authenticated SMTP – Yes
Attachment Processing – Feature of the Virus scanning utility you choose.
GroupWise can be setup to communicate using SSL to further encrypt communication and secure messages. Using SSL between mail servers would comply with the Data Classification document, thereby allowing sensitive documents to be emailed on campus.
Multiple Hardware and OS platforms – Yes
OS platform. The server can run on NetWare, Windows, or Linux. (see hardware requirements above)
Any of the following desktop operating systems for the GroupWise Windows client
Windows 98 on a Pentium* 133 or higher with at least 48 MB of RAM
Windows NT on a Pentium 133 or higher with at least 64 MB of RAM
Windows 2000 on a Pentium 200 or higher with at least 128 MB of RAM
Windows XP on a Pentium 300 or higher with at least 128 MB of RAM
Plus 60 MB of free disk space on each user's workstation to install the Windows client
Any of the following desktop operating systems for the GroupWise Cross-Platform client:
SUSE LINUX Desktop, SUSE LINUX 8.2, or SUSE LINUX 9 Professional, plus the KDE desktop or the GNOME desktop
Red Hat 9 or Red Hat Enterprise 3 WS, plus the GNOME desktop
Macintosh OS 10.3 (Panther)
Plus Java Virtual Machine (JVM) 1.4.2 or later
Plus 40 MB of free disk space on each user's workstation to install the Cross-Platform client
Any of the following Web browsers for the WebAccess client:
Windows: Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 or later; Netscape Navigator 4.0 or later
Linux: Mozilla 1.4 or later and comparable Mozilla-based browsers; Konqueror 3.1.4 and comparable Konqueror-based browsers
Macintosh: Safari 1.0 or later, Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.5 or later; Netscape Navigator 4.51 or later
UNIX: Netscape 4.0 or later; Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 or later
Any of the following wireless devices for the WebAccess client:
Any wireless device that supports the Wireless Access Protocol (WAP) and has a microbrowser that uses Handheld Device Markup Language (HDML) 3.0 or above or Wireless Markup Language (WML) 1.1 or above
A Palm OS* device with any Palm OS version that supports Web Clipping Applications (PQAs)
A Windows CE device with any Windows CE version
Email is accessible using any IMAP or POP client (Outlook, Thunderbird, etc).
The client offers a caching mode that stores a local copy of a users mail, contacts and calendar for viewing offline. This reduces the server loads and allows for a larger number of Users per PO or server.
The client can read multiple mail and News reader accounts. This allows a user to read different POP, IMAP, and SMTP accounts using one client.
Scalable – Auburn University uses GroupWise for all students, faculty and staff (approximately 40,000 accounts), School district in Texas has 100,000 accounts, NC Community College system uses it for all 58 colleges (approximately 15,000 staff/faculty accounts, some campuses also do students – not included in that number), Wyeth (worldwide pharmaceutical company) – approximately 45, 000 accounts.
High Availability – Yes, which can be increased by clustering.
Host Multiple Domains – Yes
Mobile Devices– Any of the following wireless devices:
Any wireless device that supports the Wireless Access Protocol (WAP) and has a microbrowser that uses Handheld Device Markup Language (HDML) 3.0 or later or Wireless Markup Language (WML) 1.1 or later
A Palm OS device with any Palm OS version that supports Web Clipping Applications (PQAs)
A Windows CE device with any Windows CE version
Novell supplies PDA Connect for synchronizing e-mail, calendar and contacts on PDA’s
Blackberry support using the Blackberry Desktop Manager and further enhanced by using Blackberry Enterprise Server for GroupWise
Several Third party vendors have products to enhance mobile support.
Enhancements – Around 150 third party developers and an active user community that creates utilities and adds features.
Solution sets
We discussed solution sets and the technical team decided that they would like to see the solution sets revised to include a “federated system” – meaning that any system implemented would allow for others to administer a system for their unique needs if these needs couldn’t be met by the central organization and if their implementation of the system was compatible with policies set forth by a governing body (e.g, University IT Committee).
Due to time constraints, the discussion of the solution sets will be continued at the next meeting. In the meantime, to help speed up the process, Harry will post out electronically the revised solution sets and asked the committee to be prepared to discuss at 8/22 meeting.
Next meeting:
Monday, August 22nd
2:00 – 3:00 p.m.
Nelson Hall Boardroom N3220
- Sarah Noell
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