SIUC e-mail services
Information Technology supports a campus wide e-mail system that uses software based on commercial Sendmail products. This system is part of Information Technology’s commitment to provide campus e-mail users with improved virus protection, spam filtering, e-mail management capabilities as well as accommodating growing e-mail traffic loads. Please refer to this page frequently as updated information regarding the e-mail system will be provided here.
The e-mail system provides an anti-spam filter that applies a confidence rating to each processed message representing the approximate likelihood that the message is spam. For example, if the e-mail system assigns a message a rating of 99, it means that it is 99% certain that the message is spam. With this message confidence level established, the system then can then apply appropriate message disposition handling. The confidence rating is inserted into the header of each message which will allow users to filter based upon that rating. An anti-virus filter is included that detects infected messages, including MIME Attachments and uuencoded message bodies.
Also included is the Sendmail Message Organizer™ which provides users with the ability to set filtering rules based upon many different criteria, including; sender, message body, time of day, priority. The Message Organizer also allows users to manage their own personal whitelists or blacklists to explicitly allow or block senders, as well as the ability to automatically delete or bounce (return to sender) unwanted e-mail. Users can also set specific vacation responders, as well as forward their e-mail to other addresses. The Message Organizer also can sort mail into specific IMAP folders based upon many different criteria; sender, priority level and subject are examples of a few.
In preparation for the change to new e-mail servers and new software, we would like correct any desktop client configuration inconsistencies that, while currently working, will not work with the new software and tightened security. All mail clients that send and receive siu.edu e-mail should have the following configuration:
Incoming (POP/IMAP) Server: saluki-mail.siu.edu
Outgoing (SMTP) Server: saluki-mailhub.siu.edu
If you access the internet through an outside Internet Service Provider (ISP), but are currently using siu.edu e-mail, you now have two options for setting up your e-mail configuration. The first option entails you configuring your e-mail client to use the siu.edu incoming e-mail server and your ISP's outgoing e-mail server. Most people who currently have an outside ISP who use siu.edu e-mail services will be configured in this manner. Your e-mail client should have the following configuration:
Incoming (POP/IMAP) Server: saluki-mail.siu.edu
Outgoing (SMTP) Server: you will need to enter your ISP’s SMTP server here.
The second option allows users who access the internet through an outside (non-SIU) ISP, to send e-mail through the SIUC outgoing (SMTP) e-mail server. This setup is described in the next section.
Secure POP/IMAP Connection and SMTP Authentication
ALL siu.edu users (both on-campus and off-campus users) have the option to use secure POP/IMAP connection and SMTP authentication. Secure POP/IMAP connection provide a secure encrypted connection when sending and receiving e-mail. Due to the increased security concerns with Internet and e-mail communication, we recommend that all users configure their e-mail clients to take advantage of the secure connections that the SIUC e-mail servers offer.
SMTP Authentication allows users that are using an outside ISP to send mail through the SIUC e-mail servers. This will allow all users the same access to the virus scanning and spam filtering capabilities that the outgoing SIUC e-mail servers offer. SMTP Authentication is also beneficial for off-campus users, because once these users configure their e-mail client to send mail through the siu.edu e-mail servers, they will not have to change their configuration settings even if they change ISP's.
On-campus users are also encouraged to reconfigure their e-mail clients to use secure POP/IMAP connection and SMTP authentication to provide an additional level of security. Please refer to the Secure Connection/SMTP Authentication Information Page for instructions on how to configure your e-mail client to use these features.
There is a hard quota limit of 80MB on all mailboxes. When the combined size of a user's folders on the server exceeds 60MB they will be sent weekly automated warning messages by the e-mail system. If the combined size of a user's folders on the server exceeds the 80MB hard quota they will be sent daily warning messages. All warning messages will list the name and size of each folder that user has on the e-mail server.
If a user remains over the 80MB hard quota for more than 30 days, messages will be automatically deleted by the system. Messages will be selected for deletion from all of the user's folders on the server (INBOX, Sent, etc) based on message age and size as necessary to reduce the combined folder size to less than 60MB. Messages deleted through this automated process will be permanently deleted and will not available for restore to the user.
Users can check the combined sizes of their folders on the mail server at the Check Mailbox Size page. These totals are updated several times each day.
Email users need to take notice of a folder named "Spam" in their mailboxes. This folder is automatically created by the e-mail system. Any incoming message with a Spam Confidence Rating of 70% or higher will be placed in this Spam folder. IMAP and Webmail email users will see this Spam folder in addition to their Inboxes. POP email clients will not display this Spam folder, so POP users will need to use other methods such as Webmail to review the contents of their Spam folder. Methods for managing Spam folders for POP users is described HERE. We strongly recommend periodically checking your Spam folder to remove messages you do not want or recover messages that may be marked incorrectly as spam. Please refer to the SIUC Spam Handling page for more detailed information.
The webmail interface can be found at https://webmail.siu.edu. For more specific information regarding the new features and options available in the new webmail, please visit the SIUC Webmail Information page.
By default the SIUC Webmail interface does not automatically save your sent messages. If you wish to retain the messages that you send from webmail, you must enable this feature. Refer to the preferences section of the SIUC Webmail Information Page for instructions on how to save your sent messages.
The Sendmail Message Organizer can be found at http://saluki-mail.siu.edu. Please refer to the SIUC Message Organizer Information page for help accessing and using the Message Organizer feature.
File Attachments and Message Size
The siu.edu e-mail server does accept file attachments. However, the combined size of the attachment and message cannot exceed 10 megabytes. Keep this in mind when sending large file attachments. It is recommended that file attachments should not exceed 8 MB in order to allow room for the message itself.
There are several file attachments that cannot be be sent through siu.edu e-mail servers. These files are primarily Microsoft executable files. These are the file extensions that are currently blocked:
| .ade .adp .app .asd .asf .asx .bas .bat .chm .cmd .com .cpl .crt .dll .exe .fxp .hlp .hta .hto .inf .ini .ins .isp .job .jse .lib .lnk .mdb .mde .msc .msi .msp .mst .ocx .pcd .pif .prg .reg .scr .sct .sh .shd .shs .sys .url .vb .vbe .vbs .vcs .vxd .wmd .wms .wmz .wsc .wsf |
|---|
| SIUC Webmail |
| SIUC Message Organizer |
| SIUC Webmail Information Page |
| SIUC Message Organizer Information Page |
| SIUC Spam Handling Page |
| Secure Connection/SMTP Authentication Information Page |