gregorygarver.com

MamaLee · Joined: 03 Sep 2004 Posts: 6

i know mail server is a computer on which some software (like sendmail or ms exchange) is installed to manage emails delivery among users. but lately some guy told me that mail server is a small instrument looks like a switch..is that true?? maybe he is true, but what is the difference between that instrument and a computer with sendmail installed?? and which is better..the same question for a firewall, i believe it is a comuter with firewall software like iptables installed, but the same guy claims it is just a small hardware ..any links. clues ?

HighVoltageBlonde · Joined: 15 Aug 2007 Posts: 6

mail server its just a computer set up to exchange mails for example exchange server 2003 or postfix. And firewall it can be a computer set up as firewall or software on your computer like windows firewall or it can be a router. Or if you want to secure everything it can be all tougher at one place..

ste_pej · Joined: 14 Mar 2007 Posts: 3

First off Firewalls. There are two main types of firewalls hardware and software. IPtables is what would be considered a software firewall. The the guy is also right. A hardware firewall is a small device that generally look much like a hub or switch.Now mail servers. I would say you are right. A mail server is a server with exchange software installed on it. As far as a piece of hardware that looks like a switch i never heard of seen anything like that.

D · Joined: 26 Aug 2006 Posts: 7

The "small piece of hardware" he's describing as a mail server is probably just a small (maybe 1U rackmount) machine that ONLY acts as a mail server, or is part of a server cluster that handles mail. As far as I know there are no specific pieces of hardware that will act only as a mailserver, although it is possible people sell small machines preconfigured to act only as a mailserver with a simple front end.Firewalls are different. A software firewall can be as simple as Iptables or can be a more complex implementation of essentially the same thing with a nice GUI. A hardware firewall is a small device, just like what you're describing, which is basically a router with an internal and external interface that picks and chooses which ports to forward and what protocols to allow to pass between the two interfaces. It is a more robust implementation of the idea of a firewall than just a software one as it is, generally, much harder to spoof your way past.