ASSOCIATE VICE CHANCELLOR -
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
VICE CHANCELLOR - BUSINESS AFFAIRS
April 15, 1997
CAMPUS MANAGERS and SYSTEM ADMINISTRATORS
SUBJECT: Electronic Mail Migration from cc:Mail to Internet-Based Products
After consultation with the UCSD Data Communications Coordinating Group (DCCG), and in recognition of the rising costs of maintaining proprietary electronic mail systems, UCSD will begin phasing out central campus support of "cc:Mail" in 1998. This will allow us to maintain and improve support to electronic mail products that adhere to Internet standards such as Eudora, Netscape Navigator, Microsoft SMTP clients, and other products.
The reasons for this migration include:
1. The cost of cc:Mail software licenses has increased dramatically over the past year, while Internet-based email systems remain less expensive.
2. The need for timely delivery of email has increased over the years. Internet-based mail systems can deliver mail in seconds or minutes, whereas cc:Mail delivery can (and unfortunately does) take minutes or hours.
3. The need for remote access to email has also increased. UCSD's standard dial-in service or any Internet service provider can be used to access Internet-based email services.
4. cc:Mail uses proprietary protocols which do not extend well when email is sent to non cc:Mail users. For example, email attachments are often unreadable when crossing from one system to another.
UCSD will eliminate central support of cc:Mail on June 30, 1998. After that time, departments that choose to continue to use cc:Mail will need to be self-supporting and will have to pay for the cc:Mail software licenses. In particular, the following services will not be available to cc:Mail users after that time:
1. UCSD's global directory of all cc:Mail users.
2. The "@UCSD" Internet gateway. Assistance will be provided to departments who wish to continue using cc:Mail and, therefore, establish their own Internet gateways.
3. The SANDMAIL mail delivery hub. Mail exchanged among remaining cc:Mail post-offices will be sent through those post-offices' Internet gateways.
4. The SANDDIAL and cc:Mobile dial-in services.
5. The cc:Fax service.
In order to foster a smooth transition, UCSD's mail server, popmail.ucsd.edu, is available for use by all faculty and staff at UCSD. It is currently a very reliable service which is available 24-hour a day, 7-days a week year-round.
We understand that such a transition may be difficult for many people and we will do our best to simplify the process. To that end, training and conversion utilities are being developed to help end-users and system administrators through the migration.
Given the above reasons and implications, we strongly suggest migrating to an Internet-based email system such as Eudora as soon as possible.
ACT and ACS Network Operations have established a web site at
http://www-no.ucsd.edu/mail
and a listserver, EUDORA@UCSD.EDU, for discussion of this process. You can subscribe to the list by sending a message to LISTSERV@UCSD.EDU with the following body:
ADD youraddress@UCSD.EDU EUDORA
where "youraddress@UCSD.EDU" is your Internet electronic mail address, as listed in the UCSD Telephone Directory. Future announcements regarding this transition (e.g., training) will be made to this list, so please subscribe if you have any interest.
If you have specific questions about this transition, please send a message to EudoraTrans@ucsd.edu. Information is also available from the help desks for both ONO (534-1857) and ACT (534-1853).
Thank you.
Gerald R. Lowell Steven W. Relyea Associate Vice Chancellor Vice Chancellor