hMailServer the decent free mail server for Windows

There are plenty of free and open source mail server solutions in the Linux and Unix world which based on Postfix, and there are also standalone suite such as Courier, Zimbra, etc.

However, most mail server solutions in Windows world are not free. Among those which are free also always lack in features. hMailServer, created by Martin Knafve, is a decent one in the Windows world, which is free to use and also provides all of the important functionality you need to run your own e-mail server. Initially it was open source and licensed under GPL, until recently its Version 5 is now closed source (source code no longer available) but is still provided free of charge to use.

hMailServer supports open email protocols such as IMAP, POP3 and SMTP, which makes it compatible with most email clients available, including webmail such as SquirrelMail. Among its features are:

• Multiple virtual domains
• Domain alias
  
• Multilingual
  
• Quotas
  
• Antispam
• Antivirus (with ClamAV)
• Auto-reply
  
• Rules and filtering
• Attachment blocking
• Retrieval of messages from external POP3 accounts
• Built-in backup
• Mirroring
• Multihoming
• Scripting
  
• .....
  

If you are from the SME/SMI sector, looking for an email server solution to be installed in a Windows platform, hMailServer is a solution that is worthwhile for you to seriously look into.

CakeFest the CakePHP conference

The 2nd CakeFest in 2008 will take place in Buenos Aires, Argentina this coming 2-5 December 2008. The conference will feature both English and Spanish spoken talks.

Organized by the Cake Software Foundation, CakeFest is a programming conference with a strong focus on CakePHP. CakePHP is a rapid development framework for PHP scripting language that provides an extensible architecture for developing, maintaining, and deploying web applications. Using commonly known design patterns like MVC and ORM within the convention over configuration paradigm, it reduces development costs and helps developers write less code.

Click here to pre-register for the CakeFest conference now.

If you experience slow Internet access, OpenDNS can be your remedy

Recently, I experienced slow Internet access both from my office and home. Even the Google search page also took a long time to load up. However, the "ping" and "traceroute" results to external sites seem to be normal, this made me suspect the DNS service of TMNet, the ISP.

Then I tried to change to use the free DNS service from OpenDNS. Woolah! My Internet access speed finally come back to normal.

If you are facing the same Internet access speed problem, you might also want to give OpenDNS a try. Just go to this website: https://www.opendns.com/start and click on Computer, select the operating system you are using, and there is step-by-step guide to help you make use of OpenDNS service. If you are connecting to Internet using ADSL, and your computer is configured to automatically get its IP address from the DHCP service in your ADSL router, then click on Router, select your ADSL router's brand and model, and follow the steps for the DNS configuration.

Hope that your slow Internet access problem can also be solved by OpenDNS too.