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Isode announces Release 10.5

Isode, the UK based supplier of email and directory server products to ISPs, Multinational Corporations, Governments, and Universities, today announced Release 10.5 of its product set. Release 10.5 includes significant management functionality enhancements, new products, and enhanced security features.

(LONDON. - July 27, 2004) - Isode has supplied email and directory server products to ISPs, Multinational Corporations, Governments, and Universities since 1992. During that time we have continuously innovated both in response to customer requests and in line with our own commitment to supply our customers with technology advances ahead of market trends. Isode's history of product innovation continues with Release 10.5, incorporating significant configuration management, operational management and security enhancements as well as two new products.

Configuration Management

For most messaging deployments, Isode recommends directory based configuration as it enables natural sharing of configuration data between multiple servers, configuration replication and client/server management using open protocols. Isode provides EMMA (Enterprise Messaging Management and Administrator), which is a graphical management tool for directory-based configuration of all of the Isode messaging servers. R10.5 includes a significant upgrade to EMMA, which simplifies and improves Isode’s messaging configuration. This provides a clean interface for simple tasks, while offering very high flexibility of configuration where this is needed.

M-Switch Operational Management

Isode’s MConsole has been the key operational management interface for M-Switch, that enables client/server monitoring and controlling of one or more M-Switch queues. Release 10.5 has extended this client/server model to operational management enhancements and developed a Switch Operations and Management Architecture (SOMA). Key to SOMA is a server process running on M-Switch which accesses internal M-Switch components and makes them accessible to clients. SOMA gives access to all of the MConsole functionality, and adds in new functionality to access and search logfiles, view messages in the queue, messages in the archive and messages in a quarantine area.

The key goal of SOMA is to enable all M-Switch management be performed client/server and to complement directory based configuration management. Client applications are built over published APIs, so that Isode customers can develop custom client/server management tools. Isode has added a new log viewing, monitoring and searching tool in R10.5.

Security and Authentication

Realising the key role that a choice of authentication mechanisms plays in the construction of directory solutions, Isode introduced limited Simple Authentication and Security Layer (SASL) support in Release 10.2. SASL provides an extensible framework for using a wide range of authentication mechanisms with LDAP in addition to that protocol's limited number of built-in authentication processes. In line with our directory solutions vision statement, R10.5 sees the implementation of full SASL support, including the storage of SASL data within the directory, dispensing with the need for a separate SASL store.

X.400 Quick Start

Getting any X.400 MTA up and running has always proved to be time-consuming, Isode has made a major commitment in this release to making the setup and evaluation process for our M-Switch product as simple as possible. This commitment has taken the form of the new Quick Install package, aimed at making an evaluation of M-Switch in an operational environment even easier to conduct. The installation package, which combines a configuration wizard, test clients (enabling a complete system to be built without external products) and quick start installation guide allows evaluators to have up and running within an hour a system that includes M-Switch X.400, M-Store X.400, and directory configuration using M-Vault X.500.

New Product: M-Vault Connector

Amongst Isode's major markets are the government and military sectors where directories based on the X.500 protocol (which offers very high levels of security and secure replication across a distributed environment) are still very much in evidence. Noticing an increasing demand amongst semi-independent departments within the Government and Military organisations for local LDAP based directories, Isode has released M-Vault Connector.

M-Vault Connector is a specialised version of Isode's M-Vault product which can act as a communications intermediary between LDAP and X.500 directories or as the 'glue' holding together a heterogeneous environment distributed directory. More information on M-Vault Connector can be found at here.

New Product: M-Switch MIXER (Departmental)

Isode's core M-Switch server supports both X.400 and SMTP protocols, M-Switch MIXER combines these to provide a flexible managed solution for conversion between X.400 and Internet messaging. The new EMMA contains MIXER specific functionality, and this gives a very straightforward means of managing a directory configured MIXER system. Whilst M-Switch MIXER is ideal for high volume complex deployments, there are situations where a smaller MIXER system is required, for example to connect a few Internet mail clients to an X.400 backbone. Isode has introduced a version of M-Switch MIXER, MIXER (Departmental) which allows quick setup and easy operation within these low volume situations.

About Isode

Isode is a software product company, originally established in 1992. Its M-Vault and M-Switch products are used around the world by Multinational Corporations, Government Departments, ISPs, and Universities including BT Ignite, Federal Bridge Certification Authority, Novis Telecom, EDS, PTM.com, Queens University Belfast, Steria Limited, Her Majestys Government Computing Centre (HMGCC), Leeds Learning and The Government of Alberta.

Contact Information

Isode
Lydia Steyn
+44 (20) 8783 0203
lydia.steyn@isode.com

Tuesday, July 27, 2004

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