Linux on mainframe systems? Don't laugh. Dave Ennen isn't. The technical support manager at Winnebago Industries Inc. recently oversaw the deployment of Version 7 of SuSE Linux AG's Linux operating system on an IBM zSeries mainframe to run his company's e-mail server supporting 700 users. Ennen, in Forest City, Iowa, said the move allowed him to avoid spending $150,000 on new hardware and software for a Microsoft Corp. Exchange upgrade. The Linux e-mail system cost Winnebago $26,000. The company deployed Bynari Inc.'s Insight Server Enterprise Edition 3.0 for e-mail on Version 7.0 of the Linux operating system from SuSE Linux. The e-mail system went live in December. Altogether, the company has 128 mainframe mips. It's using between 7 percent and 10 percent of those to run Linux and the e-mail system.

- Dave Ennen, Winnebago Industries

OCB Reprographics, a large Southern California graphics firm and part of American Reprographics Company, has been running Bynari's Insight Server in both its Orange County headquarters and its Tiger Reprographics subsidiary in San Diego. Larry Middendorf, OCB's Systems Administrator states: "We were looking at several collaborative messaging applications when we became aware of InsightServer. We were used to the reliability of sendmail but needed more features. We like the open standards that InsightServer is built on. We get much of the functionality of the more expensive competing products on a stable and economical platform."

After installing Bynari, Larry went on to say, "The maintenance of this system is almost nonexistent. All we do is add/remove accounts, and add to the Spam list and extension filtering list. We have a second server, identical to the OCB server, hosting the mail for our Tiger Reprographics group...An interesting note about this server is that we haven't rebooted it or really had to do anything with it since it was installed quite some months ago..."

- Larry Middendorf, OCB Reprographics

Peter's was founded as a family business over 30 years ago. A firm commitment to quality quickly saw them become a family favourite. Constant growth has seen Peter's establish a network of 11 regional depots across the United Kingdom.

When Peter's were looking for a new email system, they had the following requirements which had to be met:

• Due to concerns about viruses the system had to run on Linux
• It needed to have a fully functional Web Mail interface
• At Peter's, users run a combination of Outlook, Thunderbird and Evolution. Therefore an adherence to Open Standards was vital.
• The system need to be easy to support for administrators and also require as little retraining as possible.
• Finally the licensing for the product had to be straightforward and easy to understand.

After evaluating many different products we felt that Insight Server was the only product that possessed all these qualities – plus the added bonus of the Outlook Connector and a price that was too good to be true - made it no brainer.

Since installing Insight Server on Novell's SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 9, Peter's have been delighted with the system. We have also been pleased to see that Bynari haven't rested on their laurels they have constantly released upgrades ensuring that we always have the most up to date system possible.

We are delighted to recommend Insight Server.

- Matt Jones - Senior Analyst

We (LDM Ltd.) are a Document Management Bureau that provide litigation support to the legal sector across the world. Our services include Document imaging - scanning and file imaging, conversion, coding and Reprographics. We are a London based company with offices in Manchester UK and the US.

The main reason we went with Bynari was because we had enough of MS Exchange -it's unreliability and steep prices especially for client access licenses - but we wanted some kind of Unix based email server that provided the same functionality as Exchange hopefully with added features such as virus scanning etc. We had a look at quite a few products including the Suse mail server but after we had a demo provided by our Support company Fordway Solutions Ltd. we were quite impressed. Although at that stage InsightServer Version 4.0 lacked some features (now addressed in version 4.1 upwards) the software seemed promising in
fulfilling our needs.

Even though we are still running InsightServer V4.1, we have been very pleased with the product (it hasen't crashed once since upgrading over a year ago) and the fantastic speed with which new features has been added and problems been addressed. We are planning to upgrade to the latest version of Insight Server in a few months time.

- Johann Baasden - Network Administrator

Founded in 1906, The Brannan Sand & Gravel Company has been a leader in the construction industry in Colorado markets for a long time. Brannan has been a family owned business from the beginning.

Our decision…Do we use an email system that is maintained internally or do we outsource it? The decision was clear, we wanted a self-sufficient, easy to administer and maintain system that allowed for the secure distribution of email, but without the economic and security overhead of using the obvious Microsoft alternative. When it came time for Brannan to choose the platform, we chose to use a flavor of Linux that allowed anyone to step in and take over operations if they were at least a novice level network administrator. The challenge was to choose the software package that would house our email application…There were many different vendors that offered many different solutions. There was one however, that stood out from all of the rest. A company that helped us to implement the server in a test environment to ensure that we were getting the product that was promised to us. A company that worked with us in a way that we felt comfortable that we were making the right decision before we had committed to purchase the product and found that we were not pleased.

Bynari was that company. Since our decision in 2002, we have since built an incredibly strong rapport with them. I would not recommend any other email server application to any systems administrator for any reason after now using Bynari’s software exclusively for the past three years. Because of their diligence and pre-planning, we have yet to be down (email) due to the many threats on the internet today. Our email server uptime is no longer measured in days or months, but in years. This is a very comforting thought as our email system is now the dark-office operation that every systems administrator dreams of. The software plays very nicely with the many other applications that we are running simultaneously on the hardware; and our server is now at the forefront of our enterprise. My only regret in utilizing Bynari as our email software is that we had not found them sooner.

- Cory Christon, Network Administrator

Chesapeake Sciences Corporation develops and produces high resolution data acquisition systems and components for commercial and military markets.

With a growing business, we needed a stable system that could grow with us without the high costs. Bynari more then provided us with the service and support that we needed. They have been quick with updates that addressed our specific issues and needs. Our server is actively used by 100+ users and has only been rebooted once in the last year.

- Mark Sorenson, Manager of Information Technology

The mission of the Berrien County Health Department is to prevent disease, prolong life, protect the health of the community, and promote an optimal quality of life for the citizens of Berrien County.

The Berrien County Health Department was in need of expanding its email functionality and providing a groupware solution. After weighing and testing different solutions, Bynari Insight Server was the obvious choice. Bynari Insight Server with its Linux base and proven open source products incorporated gave us the features we were looking for at a fraction of the cost of going with an Exchange or GroupWise solution. The Insight Web Client is very intuitive and well laid out. End user training for the Web Client was minimal. The web based management interface is simple and easy to manage.

Bynari’s dedicated support team and constant proactive approach to product updates was another selling point. Bynari is now being used in two Michigan counties for local public health and being reviewed by others in the State.

Paul Olmstead – LAN Specialist

Evanite Fiber Corporation, a manufacturer of glass fiber used in battery separators and filtration paper that also manufacturers hardboard. www.evanite.com

We selected Bynari Insight Server because of the low cost as compared to other mail servers and the functionality with Outlook which we were currently using. We were migrating from Microsoft Mail.

- Don Hammer - Network Administrator

The Vlaamse Gemeenschapscommissie (VGC) is a governemental organization providing the dutch-speaking part of Brussels with communal services like education, culture, architecture etc...

We chose Bynari because of the lower cost price versus similar capabilities as Exchange. We needed the groupware functions of Outlook, but didn't like the idea of pinning ourselves to Microsoft only solutions.

- Gert Nelen - System Administrator

KEUCO has been growing as a company in personal responsibility for 50 years and confronts the technological and ecological challenges of our time. Today, the company employs almost 400 people at the production sites Hemer and Gütersloh, Germany.

KEUCO searched for an alternative to the existing Lotus Notes e-mail and database-server beginning at the end of 2002.The new system should be cost efficient and easier to administrate. Introduction of an own created KEUCO intranet which took the existing Lotus Notes databases off to 100% was of advantage.

To be compatible to the existing ERP system, the new e-mail system should work with a Outlook client. So use of the MS Exchange server seems obvious. After a corresponding analysis this proved, however, very cost-intensive. On the search for a suitable system various products were analyzed (exchange4linux, SuSE OpenExchange server, SCO mail server, Samsung Contact). They couldn't fulfill the requirements with regard to the number of clients to handle, the costs, the stability or future prove of investment .

Due to the KOLAB initiative of the BSI's Federal Ministry of security in the information technology KEUCO became aware of the Bynari Outlook client. This proved fast, the fitting e-mail server is also available to the client.

Long-term tests and a very good cooperation with Mr. Fritzsche Dbtec lead - according to thoroughly existing problems with the first connector versions - in the third quarter 2004 for the switching off of the last Lotus Notes server.

The complete e-mail traffic (approx. 220 users) is dealt with 2 Bynari e-mail servers at two locations since then.

External users use the system about VPN and Bynari connector, just like about the web client straightforward.

Boliden Westmin Canada Limited is a Copper, Zinc, Gold, and Silver mining operation based in Western Canada.

We went with Bynari primarily for three reasons:

1. Much better licensing costs then our previous Microsoft Exchange solution.
2. Similar (mostly transparent) end-user usability features when compared to Exchange (ie. Shared Folders, Outlook Client compatibility, etc).
3. Much easier troubleshooting and administration using familiar tools such as Postfix, IMAP, and LDAP. Also, to escape the point of failure related to the Exchange proprietary EDB database structure, it's limitations and requirements for continuous hardware upgrades and downtime for database defragmentation.

- Tyler Evernden - Systems Analyst/sysadmin

With 400 employees on site, Pacific Steel operates as a steel foundry that manufactures casted steel parts, with about 40 percent of its business generated through contracts with PACCAR, Inc., which is best known as a manufacturer of heavy-duty Class 8 trucks.

Philip Gordillo, IS manager for Pacific Steel, approached the company’s IBM business partner contact, Steve Giondomenica of Cotati, Calif.-based Chouinard & Myhre, Inc., whom the company worked with previously when it acquired its Model 820. Gordillo inquired whether his company should opt for Lotus* Domino* or Microsoft Exchange, or some other option. Giondomenica suggested using Linux and an e-mail server solution called Bynari Insight Server.

“Based on their suggestion, we went with Bynari, initially, on an Intel* xSeries Model 225 box,” Gordillo says. The result, according to Gordillo, has been great overall performance.

“We’ve had no problems with the software, and we’ve had no problems with the hardware,” Gordillo says. “We couldn’t ask for anything better. There was very little learning involved as far as managing and administering the software. It’s been working wonderfully ever since it was installed.”

- Philip Gordillo, IS manager for Pacific Steel. From eServer Magazine Feb. 2005

Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, Inc. performs public opinion and strategic research for companies, political campaigns, and issue organizations.

We chose Bynari because their Open Source solution gave us a linux based system using well documented and proven open source applications, while allowing us to use the Microsoft Outlook client with the Insight Connector.
During our evaluation period Bynari demonstrated an active and responsive development process for their products, ensuring us that the products would continue to evolve and that any issues we had would be quickly addressed.

Thomas Sadowski
IT Director

DIMDI Cologne (German Institute of Medical Documentation and Information) provides a high-quality information offer with more than 70 databases on the internet for all fields of public health. Beyond that, DIMDI is the publisher of the German versions of the medical classifications ICD-10, ICF, OPS-301, MeSH and UMDNS and provider of the information systems on drugs, medical devices and Health Technology Assessment (HTA).

DIMDI operates an IMAP Mail-Server under the operating system SUN Solaris. This was built up by DIMDI from the Open-Source-Components Cyrus IMAP Server, Postfix SMTP Server, OpenLDAP Server and Apache Web Server. Furthermore, products for virus protection and spam-mail blocking are installed on the upstream servers. In order to make the mail-server available for some groupware functions of Outlook, DIMDI is using the Bynari Insight Connector.

HTI is one of the UK’s leading organisations in the creation and delivery of professional development programmes for school leaders in the primary and secondary sectors.

Since effective and efficient communications with our partners and customers are at the heart of our business, it is vital that we had a rich and reliable email solution to replace our over-stretched Windows-based system. After discussions with our strategic IT partner HundredAcre Solutions, we implemented the Bynari Insight Server, Connector and Directory software, and have been pleased with the results. Our email is now centrally secured and backed up rather than being stored only on individual PCs. We are also starting to make use of Outlook features such as shared calendars that were not previously available to us.

The price was also attractive – with a 50 user Bynari installation running on our existing servers for less than a tenth of the price of the equivalent Exchange-based solution.

-Mark Hall, Heads, Teachers & Industry

Frontier Mortgage is a quickly growing mortgage consulting firm dedicated to bringing only the best service to the customer. From the initial phone call to the closing table and beyond, you can count on our staff giving you their all.

We're using Bynari Insight Server, Insight Connector for Outlook and The Address Book connector. We chose Bynari because it gave us an almost 100% drop in replacement for Exchange for a resonable price. We evaulated several other commercial solutions, including Samsung, Exchange and Lotus Notes. In addition, we evalutated many Free and Open Source groupware packages. While they were nice, none of them met our needs completely. Insight had everything we were looking for in a groupware application.

Jason "KodaK" Balicki, Systems Administrator