Thanks to a program started by Information Technology and Communication last month, students now have an easy way to access e-mail on computers that do not have Simeon.
Using a new Web-based e-mail service (www.mail.virginia.edu), students can retrieve University e-mail from anywhere in the world using an Internet connection and a Web browser.
"We've been wanting to get a Web Mail client for ages," ITC Help Desk Manager George Payne said. "Students, staff, faculty, everyone would love to have a Web Mail client for the Central Mail Service," the primary e-mail server for University students, faculty and staff members. There are about 21,000 CMS users.
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Before Web Mail, students who wanted to access e-mail on a computer without Simeon primarily used Pine and telnet, archaic text-only services. But this method was a source of mystery and confusion to many University students.
"I've messed with telnet a couple times, but it's been easier for me to just use America Online when I'm not at school," third-year Engineering student Eric Shaffer said.
Although Web Mail has seen a steady growth in the number of users since ITC released it to the public Feb. 6, the Web Mail servers have been far from inundated, said Brian Cadieux, ITC computer systems senior engineer.
"Web Mail traffic has not been too heavy as compared to the total number of users who access the Central Mail Service," Cadieux said.
Students have not had an extended break this semester where they would leave Grounds, but Cadieux expects a larger number of students to use Web Mail over Spring Break.
ITC already is equipped to handle large amounts of e-mail - CMS processes an average of 434,000 messages a day on weekdays.
There have not been any major Web Mail technical difficulties, and the system seems to be running smoothly, Cadieux said.
"We don't really expect anything very serious," he said. "The machine that we're using for this is a very big machine, in anticipation of high load, and we're certainly seeing nothing close to its capacity at this point."
Using Web Mail
It is relatively easy to get started with Web Mail. Simply log on to the site and click the "Getting Started" link.
Once there, enter the same student user ID and password that you use for Simeon. The site will ask you to set a list of configurations and options. That's all there is to it.
Everyone with a CMS account - the vast majority of University students - can use Web Mail. Those with Unix mail accounts must register for a CMS account through ITC's Web site to use the service.
New users should be aware that Simeon address books do not automatically transfer to Web Mail.
Payne said there was some initial skepticism as to whether the Web Mail service would function efficiently. "They were saying that it's going to be extremely slow over phone modems, especially if you have a very large mailbox," he said. "But in my experience - I have a very large mailbox - it's been wonderful."
A team of computing staff, departmental local support partners and students selected the service, according to ITC.
"We did a very extensive survey of what was out there and came up with" this particular service, Cadieux said.
Payne said ITC continues to monitor the marketplace for new and better products, so Web Mail may not be the permanent Web-based e-mail solution for the University.
Phasing out Simeon
ITC also is changing its recommendations for software used to check e-mail on Grounds. Because Simeon is no longer supported by its manufacturer, ESYS Corp., ITC committee nominated Mulberry to replace Simeon.
Beginning in fall 2001, ITC will recommend all new and incoming students use Mulberry, which will be available in June.
Provided it continues to function with ITC mail servers, Simeon will remain available to users at least through summer 2002.
There is a possibility, however, that Simeon will not be compatible with computers in the future or with changes made in ITC's servers, which would force users to move to the Mulberry client.
The committee chose Mulberry because, among other factors, it will afford Simeon users an easy transition. Payne said most of the configurations from Simeon, including messages saved on the server, would transfer to the new software.
"We're going to make every best effort possible to keep Simeon running for another three years so that people who started with Simeon this year will not be forced to change to Mulberry," Payne said. "We would really like to keep Simeon available for everybody."
Mulberry already is the standard at many other universities, including the University of North Carolina, Carnegie Mellon University and Duke University.
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