Desktop Systems
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PersonalMail Case Study for Sun Microsystems
PersonalMail, www.pmail.net, is a free, web-based, email service from World Telecom which allows users to access their email from anywhere in the world, free-of-charge via the Internet. This UK-based service, developed by World Telecom‘s Internet Services Division and hosted by Planet Online, has been written entirely in Java and utilizes a high-performance computing platform from Sun Microsystems™ for its state-of-the art system. Unlike conventional, client based email, being a web-based service PersonalMail provides greater functionality and flexibility with the added benefit of enabling the user to retain their existing email address whilst providing them with their own, private mail address. The service also features PersonalPage, a very simple, easy to edit and easy to set up Home Page facility. HighlightsThe system was developed by Howard Yates, the Head of World Telecom‘s Internet Services Division, working in conjunction with Planet Online, one of the UK‘s leading backbone Internet Service Providers and business associate of Sun Microsystems™. "A colleague and I originally developed the PesonalMail service a couple of years ago and then, last year, we were acquired by World Telecom to set up its Internet Services Division," explains Howard Yates. "When we first developed the system, it was running on a Silicon Graphics Indy platform, however, with the adoption of the service by World Telecom, we obviously needed to upgrade and expand the system to support the inevitable growth. "The main reason for choosing the Sun™ platform was that Sun™ is one of the major innovators of web-based computing and, as such, has some of the industry‘s most reputable expertise, together with its reputation for network serving reliability and performance. And, as we were working closely with Planet Online, it was very important that we chose a system which they also recommend and support. It was the most logical and obvious upgrade path for us, combining good value for money with reliable equipment. Solution"The current web server is an Ultra Enterprise™ 10, connected to the mail server which is a Sun Enterprise™ 450. However, we are planning quite a considerable upgrade within the next couple of months, to accommodate a major new client. This will probably mean porting the system to a pair of Sun™ Enterprise ™ 250 servers connected to F5 Labs BIG/ip intelligent load balancers." Howard Yates explains that in addition to the public service, they have also developed a branded version of the service which is sold to affinity web sites, from which people can purchase what is referred to a ‘vanity email‘ service, whereby they can have an email address at, for example, their favourite football club. "In fact, we have already sold the service to most of the Premier League football clubs," says Yates. "In these cases we design the GUI (graphical user interface) to look like the club‘s own web site, so that the GUI for Chelsea, for example, has a blue and yellow livery and the club badge. "Apart from these cosmetic changes, the actual functionality of the system is exactly the same as our main public service, but the user sees it as an extension of the club‘s web site. They pay an annual subscription fee for the service, (payable by credit card on-line), for which they receive their personalized email address. In my case, for example, I am Howard.Yates@chelseafc.net!" BenefitsAccording to Yates, the main benefits of the Sun™ -based system have been its scalability they are now running a far greater number of users on the system than when it was first developed and its reliability. "The system is currently supporting in the region of 100,000 users world-wide," he confirms, "and we have not had any major problems. It‘s proved to be a reliable and available system, which means we have been able to provide a reliable service to our customers." The system is hosted by Planet Online, who also provide a level of systems administration and ‘transparent‘ technical support, such as upgrading the operating system. They were recently involved in upgrading the disk capacity and installing a ‘mirror system‘, whereby the system now has a total of 6 hard disks, which are ‘mirrored‘ to provide even more resilience and greater performance. Planet Online‘s Hardware Solutions division has been a major supplier of computer hardware for over 15 years, working closely with manufacturers such as Sun Microsystems™ to deliver high performance, cost effective solutions, backed up by experienced engineering support. Planet works with each individual client to select the most appropriate hardware for each situation, and draws on its wide experience across an extensive and diverse range of customers, to ensure that the best possible solution is implemented. In the case of PersonalMail, Planet recommended the Sun™ platform based on its reputation as a robust platform ideally suited to web-based applications.
"Companies wishing to fully exploit the advantages of the World Wide Web need a server capable of delivering maximum performance so that their customers are guaranteed fast, reliable access to information at all times,"Jim Thorne "Our UNIX Web Server incorporates high performance and market leading software from Sun™, which provides a flexible and powerful web server solution built around a feature rich presentation of the UNIX operating system. This is ideal for supporting an application such as PersonalMail, where, for example, users who travel a great deal have the ability to collect mail from anywhere in the world, given access to a Web browser and Net connection." "In addition to PersonalMail, we also run World Telecom‘s corporate web site and we are currently developing various e-commerce activities," adds Yates. "World Telecom is essentially a telephone products and services company, many of which could be sold over the Internet. The first service we are launching will be to sell telephone calling cards on-line which will also run on the Sun™ system." | ||||||||||||||
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