POP3 Books

For years, any system administrator running Linux who was worth his paycheck knew that Qmail was the defacto standard for running a mail server (heck, even Yahoo uses it!). Sendmail has always been ripe with security holes and headaches -- something Qmail has went to great lengths to correct. However, the problem has always been there was no easy reference guide to Qmail. You had to be either a Linux-geek, or know someone who was, to get it installed and working correctly!

Now, thanks to O'Reilly, even us non-geeks can get our Qmail systems up and running in no time. This book covers everything you need to know in an easy-to-follow format. From installation, to making the switch from sendmail, even how to tune and setup third-party components with Qmail to help control spam, scan for viruses and run your own mailing list server.

One of the great things about this book is it, for the most part, is not dependent on any particular flavor of Linux. The author does a good job of making it generic enough that you can follow along no matter what distribution you use.

Granted, you will need to know a bit about Linux to use read and fully understand this book. It is geared towards system admistrators and not the end-user of a Qmail system. However, you don't need to be a Linux Guru to understand it -- it has just enough detail to satisfy without overwhelming.

Overall, this is the handbook for Qmail that has been long overdue -- a one-stop technical manual that puts the final touch on Qmail.

Although sendmail is installed in more Internet mail servers than any other Mail Transfer Agent (MTA) it has come under scrutiny for being a large awkward program by today's standards. More and more new MTA servers are moving to a modular program like qmail that has a multitude of smaller programs for each function instead of one huge program that does everything. This allows for greater speed and flexibility. John R. Levine's new book "qmail: Managing Unix-Based Mail Systems" examines the qmail program in depth from installation to configuration to troubleshooting. While qmail is fairly straightforward and you can achieve great results on both small and very large systems, it is a very different way of thinking if you are moving from sendmail and are already familiar with it. The author recognizes this difficulty of changing the way you think and spends a good portion of the beginning of the book detailing qmail and how it works so you understand the "qmail frame of mind". I've never setup a sendmail server and so I did not have the obstacle to overcome but I have setup and configured the postfix MTA which is also a modular type program. With that background the book was a breeze to follow along and I was even able to download a copy and configure it correctly for my system. The coverage was excellent and the installation and configuration information provided all the information I needed to get it up and running. If you are thinking of building a qmail MTA you will find "qmail: Managing Unix-Based Mail Systems" absolutely indispensable and the only reference you need to get it done right the first time.

Good nagios book. Usable for novice as well as experienced users.

The complex nagios environment is explained in a simple comprehensible manner. The book inspires to implemement non-standard elements.

It help you from scratch to a full blowing monitoring environment.

Worldwide best coverage !!

2 years back I have read the first edition and was already impressed at that stage. Now the second edition came out with majored and updated contents, wider coverage, more details and - if you want to call it that way - built-in backwards compatibility.

Great care was taken to reflect any changes that had been done between Nagios version two and three. Whenever necessary, Barth's Nagios book points out those changes. As a fact I would say its one of the key features of this second editiion to take the reader from the second version to the third version.
This obviously includes configuration changes, migrations and testing it.

The introduction chapters have changed only very minor, but that is to be expected as the basic technology is still very much the same.
However its interesting to note that also here the contents has majored.
The subtil changes are often so detailed that they are not necessary noticable on the first sight.

Sometimes it's just a parameter name that's changed, other times methods were replaced, always keeping in mind how to do more for less, increasing readability of the configuration, minimizing maintenance or increasing reliability.

Also in the second addition there are definitely much more advanced scenarios. In fact I couldn't think of any scenario that is not covered.
Do you need coverage for MySQL, PostgreSQL, SAP or Oracle ? Got it !
But how about coverage for enterprise Single-sign on environments ? Got it !
And NRPE coverage ? Got it !
So whats with Alternate state flapping you ask ? You bet its covered and ... Yep, you are right.

That's nice you think, and think now ...but we also need coverage of file and folder size montioring, the Nagios embedded perl interpreter and of course definitely distributed monitoring ... And guess what its all there !!

Besides other points that I already mentioned you will find in the appendix also macros and event handlers covered and a HUGE list of configuration parameters - all explained in plain english of course.


Summary:

The carefully documented experience of the author and his team alone make this book well worthwhile !!
This goes from the time saving technics he describes, the config changes hints and tips, the migration scenario sample through the more advanced topics mentioned above like distributed monitoring, single sign-on environments, the embedded perl interpeter, all kind of databases (MySQL, PostgreSQL, Sap, Oracle) mailservers ( postfix, qmail, exim, sendmail ) etc. and the list goes on and on.

The now 720p and 26 chapter strong second edition covers the advanced topics many of us have been waiting for.

Just see the below highlight feature list for the big changes of the whopping 200 page additions:

- Whats new in Nagios three (overview)
- Migration / conversion from version two to three
- Single-Sign on environments (Apache, Windows ...)
- Nagios embedded Perl Interpreter
- Distributed Monitoring
- Alternate state flapping
- Monitoring file and folder sizes
- NRPE coverage
- NSClient++ coverage
- EventDB

The book is rounded up with 8 !! Appendices and a 25p index.
I feel you get a lot of information that will save you lots of hassle down the road.

The authors very accessable style make this book readable and enjoyable for system admins, developers, consultants and managers.
The 1st edition was already ahead of its marcet, but now with Mr. Barths second edition it's definitely the worls best coverage of the Nagios tool !!
Kudos to the author and his publisher team !!

(I attached the review of the 1st edition below as a comment.)

I recently received review copies of Pro Nagios 2.0 (PN2) by James Turnbull and Nagios: System and Network Monitoring (NSANM) by Wolfgang Barth. I read PN2 first, then NSANM. Both are excellent books, but I expect potential readers want to know which is best for them. The following is a radical simplification, and I could honestly recommend readers buy either (or both) books. If you are completely new to Nagios and want a very well-organized introduction, I recommend PN2. If you are somewhat familiar with Nagios and want detailed descriptions of a wide variety of Nagios plug-ins, I recommend NSANM.

NSANM strengths lie in the depth of coverage of certain elements when compared to PN2. PN2 devotes 7 pages to host checks, while NSANM's Ch 7 offers 21 pages. PN2 supplies 8 pages on service checks, but NSANM's Ch 6 gives 46 pages. This level of detail can be very useful. For example, NSANM's explanation of check_squid also shows to to configure Sguid to allow access to its cache manager.

NSANM shares more information on certain background protocols like SNMP. PN2's SNMP section is about 7 pages, whereas NSANM's Ch 11 is 36 pages. NSANM demonstrates more aspects of Nagios' Web interface and the CGI programs generating pages. I thought author Wolfgang Barth made very effective use of diagrams, like the network topology explanation in Ch 4, the service checks in Ch 5, and notification in Ch 12.

NSANM includes some material not mentioned in PN2, like using Nagios with Cygwin. Sometimes the books are very complementary, as shown by PN2's discussion of NSClient++ and NSANM's overview of NSClient and NC_Net.

NSANM is lacking coverage of security, redundancy, and failover, however. PN2 does address these critical issues. Beware the some of the "chapters" in NSANM are very short -- like Ch 8 (2 pages!) and Ch 19 (barely 6 pages). I think short sections like those should have been integrated into longer chapters or moved into the appendices.

Overall, NSANM is a very good book. I believe new Nagios readers should read PN2, and strongly consider NSANM as a complementary reference volume.

The lack of a consolidated documentation makes this book a perl to carry as an Mail Admin.

Very nice, and a valuable resource.

You get the architeture of Courier and Cyrus, the relationship with postfix, qmail, etc..

configuration files and some tests to help. worth reading.

The IMAP protocol allows clients to access email on remote servers and while it's powerful, it's also complicated. That's why IT pros and libraries catering to them need The Book of IMAP: a reference that offers detailed instructions to IMAP and POP3, the basics governing all modern mail servers and clients. The authors have set up hundreds of mail servers: their advice is invaluable and clear.

Before starting on The Book of IMAP by Peer Heinlein and Peer Hartleben, you'd better have a very good understanding of e-mail, and I recommend you at least have some experience with IMAP, or you'll probably close the book after a few pages only.

I got the impression that the publisher dropped the original manuscript on the floor and upon gathering it up, they mixed up the order of the material. The book starts off with protocols and terms, moves into load distribution via load balancers, round robin DNS, IMAP proxies, selection of file systems for IMAP servers, Webmail clients and IMAP migration before starting on the IMAP servers proper! A beginner will find that very hard to follow and digest.

The book is full of valuable information on the Courier and Cyrus IMAP servers, and the authors have collected plenty of tips on those programs. However, there is little information about interaction with client programs and with e-mail servers, so if you've never set up an e-mail server with an IMAP (or POP3) server, I think it will be difficult to follow

When I heard about a "Book of IMAP" I was very excited.
After all I still had this excellent impression of the "Book of Postfix" I read 3 years ago (see my review).
Note that the book DOES NOT COVER THE SMTP PROTOCOL based mta server side -
which actually send and receives the e-mail between mta's like Postfix, Qmail, Exim etc.

The book describes "ONLY" IMAP protocol based authentication servers for the client side interface of a mail server systems. Period !!
I mention this to avoid dissapointment for buyers.

Like it or not its best used as a companion book to any mta (mail) server book you might already have.
The books details is nothing short of technical excellence.
Its sales point is the carefully researched technical details.
This includes the system design considerations mentioned in the first 80 pages, cluster scenarios etc., but of course doesn't stop there.

The fact that the book is very readable makes it attractive even for less technically minded people.
Potential readers have to catch up on the 25+ years experience both authors put into the book.


I believe, the book has two shortcomings:

Firstly, also it is very readable, I am afraid that it might still not adequately transfer that compressed knowledge to the reader. Missing diagrams, misleading section titles etc. actually downgrade it.

Examles:

Section 1 in the book "How to Setup and maintain IMAP servers" does actually focus on system design considerations, so "Background, Theory and System design considerations" would have been a better choice here.

Chapter 9 "User data" is actually all about the authentication process itself why not name it so ?

The book is mentioning to store user credentials externally f.e. in MySQL, LDAP etc. but its short of showing how to do it.


Secondly, I think the book is not yet complete. The book explains the key modules within the systems its functions and the methods used, but I would have just loved to see more of it.

I would have loved having seen discussions, case studies etc. for many advanced scenarios and I do believe then the cover price would be easier justified.

Finally, when the book is about to get really interesting we get one advanced scenario (cluster) compressed on a 10 page chapter. No offense, but this just left me dry and thirsty wanting more....


Main parts of the book focus on

- design considerations
- authentication side configuration
- all types of general Security
file permissions
access control lists (shared folders etc.)
authentication methods and algorithms (MD5 SHA etc.)
- Quotas
- File system structure
- description of parameters


I would have appreciated a section for the integration with the mta's itself or compatibility issues that might exist.

Can I assume that character encoding issues exist only on the mta side ?
What if I want to have Japanese, Chinese, Koran characters in my folder names or keywords in my client side filters ? Can I assume them working ?


Summary:

Let my harsh critics above not fool you. The book contains very valueable technical details for IMAP servers.
My expectations on the book were naturally very high due to the fact that the authors have published many books on mta's before.
(check amazon.de)

Keep in mind that f.e. one author has f.e. 16+ years of experience, is teaching classes and is running its own ISP. Both authors are very well know figures in the european open source marcet place.
I think a 2nd edition should go the extra mile and make that knowledge slightly more acessable - especially for beginners.

Also, I would have appreciated more diagrams, scenarios, workshop like instructions and details including for the Courier mta.
Overall the authors do explain all important modules but I felt they fail to deliver the big picture and or a certain variety of system designs.
Its up to the reader to put it all together. So your actual mileage might vary.


I would evaluate the book with

5 stars for the quality of technical contents
4 stars for readability (story board)
4 stars for formulations (German-English like sentences, naming of sections, titles)
3 stars for presentation of the material ("missing" charts, tables, system overviews, hands on case scenarios)

You can see from above that its hard to judge the book.
Hopefully you got a better idea what to expect from it.

I wished it had gone into more depth, but it is a good book for beginning UNIX email administrators.

Bought this book to learn more about how email works so I could fight all the spam I am receiving. I did learn a lot about headers and how email works in general, but it didn't answer all my questions. Still, if you're looking for a general overview on email, this is a good book for the money.

I liked this book but like the other reviewers have said it's not exactly heavy on programming. Still I thought it was a good companion to John Rothon's book Programmer's Guide to Internet Mail.

This book is an excellent introduction to e-mail programming and protocols. It is as easy to read as any novel, explains everything neatly and concisely, and provides excellent examples.

This covers what a mail server does and how it works, but really concentrates on mail client-server interaction. It goes into SMTP, ESMTP, MIME, POP3, IMAP, and vCard format. The examples are clear and concise, and it includes actual code in Perl and Java. This provides the reader with excellent, platform independent ways to do what they need to do.

The writing style is excellent. One of the most fluid technical books I've ever read. In fact, all I needed was one Sunday to read the book from front to back.

The code provided is superb. It's easy to use, easy to understand, and aides in the learning process. For me, the code is invaluable. It has personally saved me countless hours of work.

Finally, this book doesn't delve in tremendous detail. It tells the reader how to program for e-mail, but doesn't go into the RFC's as much as many people would like it to. I think, however, that this is a real strength. Many technical books bog the reader down with irrelevant information. This books avoids this, but still gives the user information on how to retrieve any additional information if needed.

Though there are not many e-mail programming books out there, this is by far the best one. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

Six months ago there were no books on how to program email using standard protocols. Now there are three! Kevin Johnson, John Rhoton and David Wood have all brought out excellent books on the subject. My only gripes with this book are that it has no sample code available and too many errors. If your budget is tight just get Rhoton's book and a copy of the RFCs, but if you are serious about this stuff you are going to need all three books as well as all the mail RFCs.