Library Email

One of the identified cost savings for the Unified Communications project is that departmental email servers could be consolidated into the campus-wide Exchange email system.  The Library has had several false starts since last March, but we are now prepared to begin our own migration.

There have been several recent requests for enhancements to Squirrel mail, including better spam filtering and automatic vacation replies.  While such enhancements are possible by upgrading our current email server, the better long-term approach is to begin migrating accounts to Exchange.  Exchange already supports all of the requested features, and more.  In addition, security on Exchange is handled through Active Directory, the same system that you use to login to your computer.  You will no longer have to remember a shared username and password to access Squirrel mail, and there will no longer be a need to reset lost or expired passwords.  Many users may also like that they can manage all their shared mailboxes in the same Outlook pane as their University email.

Many of you remember the toil of migrating from Express mail to Exchange two or three years ago.  This migration will be substantially less disruptive.  Our email server no longer has any individual accounts, but it does have accounts for distribution lists (you send email to one address, and it goes to many different people) and shared mail accounts (Squirrel mail).  People on distribution lists should notice no difference at all.  For Squirrel mail users, there are several different new ways to access the shared account.

We will work with each Squirrel mail account owner to make the best decisions about how to migrate, the best way to access the account, and what to do with messages already saved in the account.  In many cases, we hope to be able to completely delete accounts that are no longer being used.

Work will begin this week on starting the migration, but this project is lower priority compared to some other IT projects.  It is possible that we will have everything completed by spring break, but more likely by the end of the spring semester.