:: Frequently Asked Questions - FAQ's

What actually manages my Exchange contents?

Mail Attender consists of two components. These are the MMC (Microsoft Management Console) client application which is used to create, edit and distribute rules, and the processing engines which then apply the rules to the Exchange mailboxes. The processing engines can run as an NT service on any Windows NT 4.0 or 2000 server or as a stand-alone application on your desktop. For the processing engines to be able to access all mailboxes, they must have full Exchange administrative rights.

Will I need to reboot my Exchange server?

That depends on how you deploy Mail Attender, and what DLLs are installed and in use on your Exchange server. As stated above, you can manage Exchange content from a completely different computer and never have to touch your Exchange server. If your do wish to install Mail Attender on your Exchange server, you can generally expect to reboot a Windows NT 4.0 installation and not have to reboot a Windows 2000 installation.

On which version of Exchange and Outlook does Mail Attender work?

Mail Attender works with both Exchange 5.5 and 2000. Outlook 98 or 2000 with CDO (Collaboration Data Objects) installed is required when installing Mail Attender on a computer that is not running Exchange.

Is there a version of Mail Attender for the Alpha processor?

No, not at this time.

What are the system requirements for Mail Attender?

The requirements are different depending on whether you are installing the MMC client or the processing engine or both.

The following are requirements for each component:

Mail Attender MMC Client Application
Windows 98, NT 4.0, 2000
Microsoft Management Console Version 1.2 or higher
nternet Explorer 5.0 or higher
Approximately 15 MB Hard Drive Space

Mail Attender Processing Engine (NT Service Version)
Windows NT 4.0, 2000
pproximately 5 MB Hard Drive Space
utlook 98 or 2000 (If installed on a server not running Exchange)
CDO 1.21 (Optional component of the Outlook installation)

Mail Attender Processing Engine (Stand-Alone Application Version)
Windows 98, NT 4.0, 2000
A pproximately 5 MB Hard Drive Space
Outlook 98 or 2000
CDO 1.21 (Optional component of the Outlook installation)

What kind of load will Mail Attender put on an Exchange server?

That depends greatly on the servers hardware, the conditions and actions of a rule, the number of mailboxes being processed and so on. Most customers choose to schedule rules to be run late at night when Exchange traffic is at its lowest point. Mail Attender also allows you to dynamically throttle rule processing to reduce the impact on the Exchange servers.

What kind of access does Mail Attender need?

The processing engines must have full administrative access to Exchange. NT service processing engines must run under an NT account with this access and stand-alone processing engines run on the desktop must be logged on to an NT account with this access.