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System Features

BlitzMail has the following major features. More detailed information can be found on the Components Web page.

  • Server-stored Mail, Nicknames, Mailing Lists, and Preferences - A user's mail environment, including filed mail and personal mail aliases, are stored on the mail server. Therefore, a BlitzMail user can sign on from any computer on the Internet and have full access to their complete mail environment.
  • Internet Protocols - BlitzMail clients and servers communicate using TCP/IP. The BlitzMail server sends mail in the Internet-standard SMTP format. Therefore, no gateways are necessary for full Internet connectivity. Sending mail to an Internet address is as simple as typing the address.
  • Integrated Name Directory - BlitzMail is tightly integrated with the Dartmouth Name Directory (DND) and BlitzMail Policy, which provides a number of key features. Account names are real names, not abbreviations, and flexible name matching allows sending to nicknames and name prefixes. Users can interactively look up other users in the directory, and can change their own directory user name or password.
  • Security - BlitzMail does not allow unauthenticated sending, so intra-BlitzMail mail is free of casual forgeries. Connections to the server are encrypted for privacy and security. The Macintosh BlitzMail client supports using Dartmouth PKI certificates for signing on and S/MIME digital signatures.
  • Ease of Use - BlitzMail makes the difficulties of Internet mail — configuration, addressing, enclosure handling — easy or invisible, so even computer-phobic users can immediately use it. Over 99 percent of Dartmouth students send or receive a BlitzMail message within 24 hours of orientation.
  • Scaleability - BlitzMail's multi-server architecture allows administrators to add new mail servers when necessary, without having to notify users or require any changes in the client configuration or mail addresses. In over twenty years of BlitzMail use, no Dartmouth student or employee has ever had to configure their BlitzMail client or advertise a new e-mail address.
  • Efficiency - The DND and BlitzMail servers are implemented as highly multi-threaded programs for maximum efficiency. This makes it possible to serve thousands of users from a single server, using inexpensive workstation hardware.
  • Compatibility - In addition to its own protocols, the BlitzMail system supports POP3 and IMAP protocols for mail access, and the Ph and LDAP protocol for name directory queries. Therefore, the BlitzMail system can be used with a wide variety of popular clients (such as Qualcomm's Eudora), as well as Dartmouth's BlitzMail-specific client software.

07/08/08

Last Updated: 7/8/08