Through limited testing, I have determined the following:
- The mail server is still as easy as ever to set up.
- The new recommendations feature is excellent and provides more in-depth information as to how the server is seen from external locations.
- The server still seems to run well with and is best configured with a single domain; the more domains you add, the more complex a setup you will have.
- The bug that I discovered with regard to IMAP and third-party mail webmail clients has been squashed. I have to go back and look at some of my previous messages on this and test more, but so far it looks good!
- An annoying bug still exists since the early .net versions that causes the mail server service to either not start when Windows does, or quickly terminate upon startup. This requires the user to RDP into the system or otherwise connect remotely to Windows SCM and manually restart the service. I daresay that if I had to put this into full-time production again, I would still have to use my old method to script the restart of the mail server service periodically.
- The new built-in webmail server is a welcome addition, missed since the days of the non .net version of this application. If and when server administration is added, this may allow admins to restart the mail server service via web, without needing RDP at all. This also might be perfect for the mail server to run in server core environments.
And now, just a brief poll:
Of those people reading this, what version of the mail server are you on, what core OS are you running, and is the hardware dedicated or virtualized?
I assume in true server environments you will need to run this on Windows Server 2012 (soon to be rid of long-term support), Server 2016 or Server 2019, but I am also curious if people are using this in production on Windows 10. I would also think that running on a dedicated server would yield you better performance overall. Finally, IP reputation does count for a lot, so if your instance is on a "dirty" network, any mail server is doomed to be less than reliable.
Anyway... although my opinion may seem trite, since I am in essence a defector compared to the loyalists who have stuck with Argo from the beginning, I do feel confident once again in recommending this software to people who want to manage their own server.
Thank you,
Joe