Keep your email on your own server
Some organisations do not want to move their email to a third-party cloud. The reason may be company policy, customer contracts or simply the wish to stay in control. For those who want to run their own server, however, the options are limited; Microsoft Exchange Server can be heavy in terms of both licensing and management.
SmarterMail is an email and collaboration server developed by SmarterTools that runs on Windows and Linux. It aims to deliver the Outlook experience that Exchange offers, without installing a separate add-in in Outlook.
What does SmarterMail do?
Talks to Outlook natively
SmarterMail natively supports MAPI, the protocol Outlook uses with Exchange; EWS and WebDAV are supported too. Phones and tablets synchronise via Exchange ActiveSync. Other email clients work over IMAP and POP. MAPI/EWS and ActiveSync are add-on licences renewed annually in the Enterprise edition; we plan them separately in the quotation according to your needs.
Includes collaboration tools
Shared calendars, contacts, tasks and notes; meeting room and equipment booking; one-to-one voice, video and text chat, and online meetings are all on the same server. File storage and sharing are included too.
Filters incoming threats
It comes with a built-in spam filter and antivirus. SPF, DKIM and DMARC checks are used to verify incoming email. Additional filtering solutions such as Message Sniffer can be integrated.
Protects accounts and the domain
Two-factor authentication is supported with apps such as Google or Microsoft Authenticator. The DKIM key for outgoing email is generated within SmarterMail, and periodic key rotation is also supported.
Delegates administration
The system administrator manages the server, and domain administrators manage their own users. It suits groups that host several companies on the same server.
SmarterMail with Unna
Your own email server means a server exposed to the internet. Its security is not established once on installation day but re-established with every update.
- We listen first. We review your number of users, mailbox sizes, mobile usage and existing system.
- We plan together. We design where the server will sit, the licence edition, backup and the outgoing email route.
- We install and migrate. We install SmarterMail, configure SPF, DKIM and DMARC records and migrate your existing mailboxes.
- We stay by your side. We track security updates and apply them promptly, and provide support with delivery issues and user requests.
Part of the whole
- On our business email page, we compare SmarterMail with the hosted option.
- If you do not want to deal with server management, Unna Business Mail is a simpler route.
- If you host many domains, filtering outgoing email with MailChannels protects your IP reputation.
- With FortiGate, we allow access to the server only on the required ports and close the management interface to the outside.
- With MailStore, we keep an archive independent of the mailboxes.
Frequently asked questions
Do Outlook profiles need to be set up again when migrating from Exchange?
Yes, Outlook accounts need to be re-added for the new server. Once email, calendars and contacts have been migrated, we do this in a planned way together with your users.
Can it be installed on a Linux server?
Yes. SmarterMail runs on Windows and Linux; it can also be deployed with Docker.
Does it run on a virtual server?
Yes. We recommend running it as a separate virtual machine on your existing virtualisation infrastructure and backing it up at virtual machine level.
