Coming back to Fastmail and can use some help..

[jer39lms]

Hi everyone,

I was active on this forum many years ago (I think in 2002 or 2003). I then took a job that gave me an email that they insisted I use and while I've maintained my fastmail acct, I haven't been actively using it. I'd now like to come back, but I need a little help.

Currently I have an exchange server hosted by appriver. The exchange server is set up with my two desktop machines, my laptop, and my iPhone 5. It syncs email, contacts, calendar and tasks without any difficulty.

My questions:

1. I understand fastmail is an IMAP server and not an exchange server. What are the repercussions of me using it again instead of an exchange server? Are there advantages to fastmail vs an exchange server or vice versa? Will email still sync in real time between my three Microsoft Outlook (2010) PCs and my laptop - is it true push? I need to know that if I delete an email on one client it will be deleted (and moved to trash) on the others and on the web interface (which by the way is what is drawing me back to fastmail). same for updating sent folders, etc.

2. I guess calendar, tasks and contacts cannot be synced with imap and that I should synchronize them separately (maybe keep the exchange server for this purpose as well?) Are there other options anyone might suggest? I actually use toodledo.com for tasks but syncing calendar and contacts is important for me.

3. My outlook pst file is 10 gigs. Is there a way for me to import it easily into fastmail? I know I'll have to purchase additional storage over and above the 10 gigs I have with the enhanced account.

4. I have my own email domain name that points to appriver. Can I have it pointed to fastmail? How do I set this up? I know fastmail does not have live support and that this forum is key for getting some of these questions answered. Unfortunately for me, I don't know how to fiddle with mmx entries (although I think the answer has something to do with that?) or how to actually implement the change. I also want to make sure I don't lose any emails while the change is in process.. frankly, it seems like an daunting task that causes some stress and while I really want to do it (if the above issues are addressed), I'm lost about how to go about it.

5. How is fastmail's reliability these days? I've checked my acct (which is a sent.com acct) over the years but haven't used it enough to know whether there are problems. The exchange server has been extremely reliable - can I expect the same?

Any help here would be much appreciated!

Jeremy

[BritTim]

Originally Posted by jer39lms

Hi everyone,

I was active on this forum many years ago (I think in 2002 or 2003). I then took a job that gave me an email that they insisted I use and while I've maintained my fastmail acct, I haven't been actively using it. I'd now like to come back, but I need a little help.

Currently I have an exchange server hosted by appriver. The exchange server is set up with my two desktop machines, my laptop, and my iPhone 5. It syncs email, contacts, calendar and tasks without any difficulty.

My questions:

1. I understand fastmail is an IMAP server and not an exchange server. What are the repercussions of me using it again instead of an exchange server? Are there advantages to fastmail vs an exchange server or vice versa? Will email still sync in real time between my three Microsoft Outlook (2010) PCs and my laptop - is it true push? I need to know that if I delete an email on one client it will be deleted (and moved to trash) on the others and on the web interface (which by the way is what is drawing me back to fastmail).same for updating sent folders, etc.

2. I guess calendar, tasks and contacts cannot be synced with imap and that I should synchronize them separately (maybe keep the exchange server for this purpose as well?) Are there other options anyone might suggest? I actually use toodledo.com for tasks but syncing calendar and contacts is important for me.

3. My outlook pst file is 10 gigs. Is there a way for me to import it easily into fastmail? I know I'll have to purchase additional storage over and above the 10 gigs I have with the enhanced account.

4. I have my own email domain name that points to appriver. Can I have it pointed to fastmail? How do I set this up? I know fastmail does not have live support and that this forum is key for getting some of these questions answered. Unfortunately for me, I don't know how to fiddle with mmx entries (although I think the answer has something to do with that?) or how to actually implement the change. I also want to make sure I don't lose any emails while the change is in process.. frankly, it seems like an daunting task that causes some stress and while I really want to do it (if the above issues are addressed), I'm lost about how to go about it.

5. How is fastmail's reliability these days? I've checked my acct (which is a sent.com acct) over the years but haven't used it enough to know whether there are problems. The exchange server has been extremely reliable - can I expect the same?

Any help here would be much appreciated!

Jeremy

First of all, welcome back! I give my take on some of your questions below (your questions in blue and my answers in green.

Are there advantages to fastmail vs an exchange server or vice versa?
There are pros and cons both ways. Briefly,

• IMHO, FM's IMAP is more robust than an Exchange setup. The web client provided by FM beats OWA hands down in both basic functionality and performance. FM is very standards compliant. Exchange (without third party add-ons) is compliant with itself.
• Exchange has collaboration functions that are very compelling for some. This is usually more important in a corporate setting than for personal email. FM does not provide calendar and task functions. Some care deeply about this, but I am happy using a separate provider (such as Google) for this. What is lost is some nice integration (such as meeting requests) between calendar and mail. The biggest issue IMHO is a lack of an easy way to synchronize contacts between the FM server and email clients (Outlook, in your case, and perhaps mobile devices).

Will email still sync in real time between my three Microsoft Outlook (2010) PCs and my laptop - is it true push?
Basically, yes. The first point to realize is that with IMAP any email messages on your client are just cached copies. The messages fundamentally always reside on the server. "Push" email is provided by a facility called IMAP IDLE that is actually superior to that provided by Exchange (though some inferior IMAP clients may still not have IMAP IDLE support)..

I need to know that if I delete an email on one client it will be deleted (and moved to trash) on the others and on the web interface
As mentioned above, the canonical copy of the email is always that stored on the server. Any time the client queries a specific IMAP folder, any deletions are immediately recognized and reflected in the client.

same for updating sent folders, etc.
I separated this out because I want to point out a very nice feature of FM that you will definitely want to take advantage of if using Outlook. You can specify in your FM server setup (under Options->Personalities) that outgoing emails should be saved to your sent items folder. Since this is provided by the SMTP server, it guarantees that all email sent is definitely in the server's sent items folders (and vice versa). Each personality can use a separate sent items folder, part of a general architecture that facilitates (for instance) keeping business and personal email separate.

I guess calendar, tasks and contacts cannot be synced with imap and that I should synchronize them separately (maybe keep the exchange server for this purpose as well?) Are there other options anyone might suggest? I actually use toodledo.com for tasks but syncing calendar and contacts is important for me.
If you have a calendar and tasks setup that works for you, then you may want to stay with that. However, personally, I find the Google calendar works for me. I am happy with just a web interface and the lack of email<->calendar integration has never been a big minus in my case. If you have a religious objection to Google, then there are other web based solutions that may work for you. I think Exchange, just for calendar and tasks, is very complex compared to a web based solution, but maybe staying with something you are familiar with compensates.

Contact syncing is a problem, and one unfortunately that FM does not seem willing to come to grips with. My suggestion in your case is:

• maintain your contacts on the FM server;
• use an FM LDAP address book within Outlook; note that this reads the master copy of the contacts, but cannot update it.
• if you need to sync with a mobile device, then look to see if LDAP read is supported by the mail client or, alternatively, an LDAP sync program is available; if not, post the specifics of the mobile device and see if anyone has good suggestions..

Yes, I know this is pretty ugly.

My outlook pst file is 10 gigs. Is there a way for me to import it easily into fastmail?
It is not too bad, but a little time consuming with that volume of data. You add the FM IMAP account to your existing Outlook. You then copy (or move) the messages between the Outlook personal folders and the FM IMAP folders. I actually suggest after backing up the PST file that you use move. The upload is going to take a long time and it is quite likely to break part way through. If using move, it is much easier to restart where you left off. For contacts, you just save them as a CSV file and use an FM import (easy and quick).

I have my own email domain name that points to appriver. Can I have it pointed to fastmail? How do I set this up?
If you are not experienced in this area, you will probably find it easiest to use the FM DNS server. Read this to get started, and then post again with any questions.

How is fastmail's reliability these days?
Excellent. See http://stats.pingdom.com/x8mbe1jgimkn/49229

Good luck!

[jer39lms]

Firstly, thanks very much for replying - appreciated!

I guess calendar, tasks and contacts cannot be synced with imap and that I should synchronize them separately (maybe keep the exchange server for this purpose as well?) Are there other options anyone might suggest? I actually use toodledo.com for tasks but syncing calendar and contacts is important for me.
If you have a calendar and tasks setup that works for you, then you may want to stay with that. However, personally, I find the Google calendar works for me.

The concern I have with google calendar is it does not sync with outlook [or does it?] or other client such that if I'm ever in a zone where I have no internet connection on my laptop, the only way I'd be able to see my calendar is by looking at my iPhone - which isn't easy when I'm looking at a week at a time.


I think Exchange, just for calendar and tasks, is very complex compared to a web based solution, but maybe staying with something you are familiar with compensates.

Contact syncing is a problem, and one unfortunately that FM does not seem willing to come to grips with. My suggestion in your case is:

• maintain your contacts on the FM server;
• use an FM LDAP address book within Outlook; note that this reads the master copy of the contacts, but cannot update it.
• if you need to sync with a mobile device, then look to see if LDAP read is supported by the mail client or, alternatively, an LDAP sync program is available; if not, post the specifics of the mobile device and see if anyone has good suggestions..

Yes, I know this is pretty ugly.


I'm using an iPhone 5. Will the iOS 6 mail client support LDAP read? How does one set it up? But I had another idea - if this would work:

Given that the two clients I use are Outlook and iPhone's Mail app - can't they both be configured to work both with FM's IMAP and an exchange server, such that I can use the contacts from the exchange server and email on FM? I guess the downside of this is that when using the FM web interface, the contacts from the exchange server won't be available.... I guess your solution will work if iPhone mail supports LDAP? If that's the case, how do I set it up? Finally, if I understand correctly, all contact updates need to be made through the FM web interface, right?



My outlook pst file is 10 gigs. Is there a way for me to import it easily into fastmail?
It is not too bad, but a little time consuming with that volume of data. You add the FM IMAP account to your existing Outlook. You then copy (or move) the messages between the Outlook personal folders and the FM IMAP folders. I actually suggest after backing up the PST file that you use move. The upload is going to take a long time and it is quite likely to break part way through. If using move, it is much easier to restart where you left off. For contacts, you just save them as a CSV file and use an FM import (easy and quick).

Is there anything I need to do to restart it where it left off or does it automatically? How do I save the CSV file?



I have my own email domain name that points to appriver. Can I have it pointed to fastmail? How do I set this up?
If you are not experienced in this area, you will probably find it easiest to use the FM DNS server. Read this to get started, and then post again with any questions.



Good luck![/quote]



Thanks very much!

[BritTim]

I guess calendar, tasks and contacts cannot be synced with imap and that I should synchronize them separately (maybe keep the exchange server for this purpose as well?) Are there other options anyone might suggest? I actually use toodledo.com for tasks but syncing calendar and contacts is important for me.
If you have a calendar and tasks setup that works for you, then you may want to stay with that. However, personally, I find the Google calendar works for me.

The concern I have with google calendar is it does not sync with outlook [or does it?] or other client such that if I'm ever in a zone where I have no internet connection on my laptop, the only way I'd be able to see my calendar is by looking at my iPhone - which isn't easy when I'm looking at a week at a time.
For syncing Google Calendar with Outlook see here.


I think Exchange, just for calendar and tasks, is very complex compared to a web based solution, but maybe staying with something you are familiar with compensates.

Contact syncing is a problem, and one unfortunately that FM does not seem willing to come to grips with. My suggestion in your case is:

• maintain your contacts on the FM server;
• use an FM LDAP address book within Outlook; note that this reads the master copy of the contacts, but cannot update it.
• if you need to sync with a mobile device, then look to see if LDAP read is supported by the mail client or, alternatively, an LDAP sync program is available; if not, post the specifics of the mobile device and see if anyone has good suggestions..

Yes, I know this is pretty ugly.


I'm using an iPhone 5. Will the iOS 6 mail client support LDAP read? How does one set it up?
I have no experience with this, but it is my understanding that IOS6 does support LDAP. Otoh, I have heard some people have issues using iPhones with FM. With luck, someone with extensive IOS experience will see this thread and provide more definitive information.


But I had another idea - if this would work:

Given that the two clients I use are Outlook and iPhone's Mail app - can't they both be configured to work both with FM's IMAP and an exchange server, such that I can use the contacts from the exchange server and email on FM? I guess the downside of this is that when using the FM web interface, the contacts from the exchange server won't be available.... I guess your solution will work if iPhone mail supports LDAP? If that's the case, how do I set it up? Finally, if I understand correctly, all contact updates need to be made through the FM web interface, right?
You understood my original post perfectly, and the downside of the Exchange solution. With the Exchange solution, the best you could do is periodically manually upload the latest contacts information to FM, overwriting the old.

The setup of the FM LDAP address book under Outlook is explained in this page. I have occasionally had some quirks on original setup. I have always managed to get around them, so post if things do not work.

For IOS6, I assume the setup will also be in the contacts/address book area, but have no recent IOS experience.



My outlook pst file is 10 gigs. Is there a way for me to import it easily into fastmail?
It is not too bad, but a little time consuming with that volume of data. You add the FM IMAP account to your existing Outlook. You then copy (or move) the messages between the Outlook personal folders and the FM IMAP folders. I actually suggest after backing up the PST file that you use move. The upload is going to take a long time and it is quite likely to break part way through. If using move, it is much easier to restart where you left off. For contacts, you just save them as a CSV file and use an FM import (easy and quick).

Is there anything I need to do to restart it where it left off or does it automatically? How do I save the CSV file?
For restarting, you just do a new move (assuming you are moving messages and not copying them). The messages that remain in your personal folders at any time are those remaining to be moved.

For the contacts, Outlook provides the ability to export your address book as a CSV file. FM supports this format for importing contacts.

[Shelded]

AAAaaaccckkk! Let's not persist in this colored interleaving of our replies

I recommend you move message in batches of 500. You can put 500 in a folder and keep track that way; if something breaks you can more easily find where you left off. Check your totals before each batch, etc.

[ChinaLamb]

Regarding syncing outlook and gmail:

I have tried many (about 10) software packages to sync outlook and gmail; including gsyncit, funambol, go contact sync, Soocial, companion link, intellisync, sync2, and many others.

Almost every package I have experienced duplicates and/or missing contacts. I have also experienced data corruption from failed syncs. This is especially true for Funambol. Every other year I have gone back to Funambol and try it again, because I fundamentally believe in their model, but I just never get a good result with their services. Most of the services ended up choking on international characters, changing them to ???? -- This was esp. frustrating for people's names as well as notes where I had to store romanizations of peoples names around the world. Many of these services said they were "unicode" compliant, but when I tried the service, it destroyed my contacts database.

The service I ended up using and loving is gsyncit. It is highly customizable, handles contacts, tasks, notes, etc. I sync notes with evernote, but you can choose a variety of services for notes and tasks sync. You can sync several computers with 1 google account, or sync several outlook contact folders in different ways. You can also sync multiple calendars. Very customizable. the only problem may be that there are so many options. When I have occassionally run into a problem, I have gotten quick responses from the developer. He is very interested in people's satisfaction with the product. I highly recommend it. I even set my parents up with it as well.

http://www.fieldstonsoftware.com/software/gsyncit3/

note: I have no relationship with fieldston software.

/cl

[RASnet]

FastMail sets up very nicely on iOS6 on iPhone4S. The message folder structure syncs with little delay and nary a hitch. I have a personal domain at a registrar other than FastMail, use FM's messagingengine DNS settings, and email and websites work great. FM email on i0S works as well as iCloud on the iPhone; frankly, it's better. It also works smartly with Apple Mail on the iMac.

My contacts in FastMail sync just fine to the iPhone, but I can't tell you why; and if there are any shortcomings to it, I haven't identified them.

[BritTim]

Originally Posted by RASnet

My contacts in FastMail sync just fine to the iPhone, but I can't tell you why

I would really like to know how, if it is a 2-way capability (and not just the LDAP read capability I already mentioned). Anyone know?

[lane]

Originally Posted by BritTim

I would really like to know how, if it is a 2-way capability (and not just the LDAP read capability I already mentioned). Anyone know?

I can't answer BritTim's question.

But here is another (partial) solution. I mostly use client software rather than Fastmail's web interface, so this may not be as useful to the OP. My email is hosted at Fastmail and Polarismail. All contacts, calendar events, and tasks work through my Hotmail (actually, now it is converted to Outlook.com) account, even though I almost never actually use the web interface to Outlook.com.

• Outlook 2007 (the client program) synchronizes with the web Outlook.com account via the Outlook Connector.
• Windows Live Mail (my usual client) automatically synchronizes with Outlook.com for calendar and contacts (but it has no task ability).
• My wife, on a separate computer, uses Windows Live Mail also to synchronize with our common calendar and contacts. Her email is hosted at Google Apps, but we don't use the Google calendar or contacts there.
• My iPod Touch synchronizes with Outlook.com for contacts, calendar and tasks. It also synchronizes email with Fastmail, Polarismail and my wife's account at Google Apps.
• Sometimes I use Thunderbird to access email from any one of the email accounts. However, it does not synchronize with contacts, calendar or tasks.
• The Polarismail web interface (enhanced account) can synchronize with desktop Outlook 2007 via Funambol. I do this occasionally to bring it up to date, but do not use the web interface on a daily basis.
• Fastmail can't synchronize with Outlook.com or any of the clients for contacts, calendar or tasks. As BritTim mentioned, I could always export contacts from Outlook 2007 as a CSV file and import to Fastmail, but I have never bothered.

By choosing to use a different service for contacts, calendar and tasks than for email, and limiting most synchronization to the client software, everything works like an absolute charm. Any change or addition at any machine, including the iPod, propagates to Outlook.com and thence automatically to the other clients as soon as they refresh. I have never had any trouble with duplicates or loss of information.

I set up the email part of Outlook.com to forward to Fastmail or Polarismail so that email calendar notices also come to my regular email account.

One could use Gmail or Google Apps to do this instead of Outlook.com (aka Hotmail). But as mentioned earlier, the synchronization doesn't appear to be as problem-free. But keeping everything in the Microsoft family (except the iPod, though that uses Microsft Activesync), everything seems to work well together.

[BritTim]

Sigh ... so the general solution seems to be use the FM servers to host email, but probably choose either to use the FM web interface exclusively (which I have tried a couple of times on mobile with unsatisfactory results) or rarely use it at all.

[lane]

Sigh ... I guess that pretty well sums it up.

[ChinaLamb]

Originally Posted by lane

One could use Gmail or Google Apps to do this instead of Outlook.com (aka Hotmail). But as mentioned earlier, the synchronization doesn't appear to be as problem-free. But keeping everything in the Microsoft family (except the iPod, though that uses Microsft Activesync), everything seems to work well together.

Your contacts will have some decreased functionality on Android by using Outlook, vs. Gmail. Less fields will sync and you won't be able to use the voice dialing functionality (or so I am told).

I use gsyncit for Outlook and it is scheduled to sync several times a day on my and my wife's computers. It syncs calendars, contacts, etc. It doesn't garble unicode characters as I found with almost every other solution for gmail contacts sync...

I have tried funambol many times over the years and I always end up with corrupted or lost contacts. I just don't trust it for sensitive data.

Outlook is probably the best push solution (unless you pay for gmail access). Or gsyncit is great for free gmail - but you have to pay for gsyncit...

[lane]

Originally Posted by ChinaLamb

Outlook is probably the best push solution (unless you pay for gmail access). Or gsyncit is great for free gmail - but you have to pay for gsyncit...

If you have the paid or educational editions of Google Apps, then Google Apps Sync for Microsoft Outlook works quite well. I found that my university alumni email account, which uses the educational version of Google Apps, works just fine. I don't use it on a regular basis, since I don't much like Outlook for personal email (great for a business though), and just use it for certain special purposes.

[ChinaLamb]

Originally Posted by lane

If you have the paid or educational editions of Google Apps, then Google Apps Sync for Microsoft Outlook works quite well. I found that my university alumni email account, which uses the educational version of Google Apps, works just fine. I don't use it on a regular basis, since I don't much like Outlook for personal email (great for a business though), and just use it for certain special purposes.

OOH.
I forgot. I have an educational account at Google Apps. Hmmm...

Thanks....