FAQ

Revision as of 03:20, 11 January 2008 by Jholder (talk | contribs) (removed broken link. see bug 19980)


Sales: Pricing and Packaging

Is Zimbra free? What version do I need?

Zimbra has both a free Open Source Edition as well as a premium Network Edition.

Can you explain how the pricing works?

Pricing of Network Edition depends on the size of your installation and the type of business or organization you have. Generally speaking:

  • The more mailboxes you purchase, the less you will pay per mailbox (sliding scale)
  • Non-profits, government, education are eligible for discounted rates
  • Service providers (who resell hosted Zimbra) have pricing conducive for large-scale deployments

Here is an example:

  • A business wanting 150 mailboxes of the Professional Edition: $28 x 150 = $4,200 per year. This license commitment is eligible for Zimbra Basic Support.
  • A government agency looking for the same package: $14 x 150 = $2,100 per year. Also eligible for Zimbra Basic Support.

How do you define a "mailbox license"? Is that one person?

A mailbox license as an account with a physical email inbox and typically belongs to one person.

Now it is possible to have an account set up for a virtual "role" within your organization that may not be staffed by an individual. So, to decide how many licenses you want to purchase the next question becomes when do you need a new account versus just using an alias or distribution list (which are not considered new accounts).

First some definitions:

  • Account: "Jane@work.com", she has a mailbox, calendar, documents, quota, etc.
  • Alias: She can also be "jane.smith@work.com" or even "info@work.com".
    • The alias is unique to this account
    • Jane could receive email sent to info@work.com and would reply back as "jane@work.com"
    • All the mail sent to the alias lives in her mailbox (if she leaves the mail archive for "info" would be lost)
  • Distribution List: A group of accounts / aliases

To have a permanent role in your organization for "info@work.com" that doesn't disappear if Jane moves you will want a new account. This way others can log in to check the email, you will have an archive, you can reply back to messages as "info", plus Jane won't all the "info@work.com" counting against quota.

Can I get Zimbra if I want less than 25 mailboxes?

We sell ZCS for on-premise deployment at a minimum of 25 mailboxes, so there are two options if you want less than 25:

  • For on-premise installations some customers purchase the minimum 25 licenses, planning for growth
  • Most use one of Zimbra's many hosting providers who will provide the exact number of mailboxes you need (remember Zimbra does not provide hosting to customers, we only sell ZCS for on-premise deployment)

Will Zimbra host ZCS for me?

No, we only sell the software license. If you want someone to host Zimbra for you we have many Hosting Partners who can provide you with that service.

I am running the Network Edition trial, how do I buy Zimbra?

You can purchase ZCS by contacting your sales counterpart. Simply provide them with the number of mailbox licenses you want, if you require Zimbra Mobile or any Support options and they will provide you with a quote form and contract to sign. Not sure who your sales contact is?, just email sales@zimbra.com.

I am running ZCS Open Source Edition, can I upgrade to Network Edition?

Yes. The process is the same as a typical upgrade.

  1. Perform a backup of your Open Source environment (just in case)
  2. Download the Network Edition and unzip it
  3. Follow the installation process by running ./install.sh (You should get prompted if you want to upgrade from an existing version of Zimbra, in this case OSS. Choose 'Yes' and follow directions).
  4. For reference, the installation instructions for Network Edition

Is it possible to mix ZCS Open Source Edition accounts with Network Edition accounts in one installation?

Unfortunately you can not mix them, but there are multiple versions of Network Edition available to meet varying needs.

Can I have some accounts running ZCS Network Edition Professional and then most accounts running Standard in my installation?

Yes. From a features standpoint, this is managed by "Class of Service" in the Administration Console where you can set up different features per account. A business running ZCS on-premise that wants to have 50 accounts with Standard and 50 with Professional features would purchase 50 of each license respectively. Service providers can also define their own COS, but should contact Sales for details on the resale pricing model.

How much storage does each Zimbra account come with?

If you are installing ZCS on premise then storage is only limited by how much physical storage space you wish to allocate to each account (eg it can be unlimited, 10GB, 2GB, etc) depending on hardware constraints. The Administration Console allows your IT team to easily set up "Class of Service" for the accounts.

If you wish to purchase a Zimbra account from a hosted service provider, they will determine how much storage will be allocated to you; typically based on industry norms.

How do I get Zimbra Support? What options are available?

Zimbra Support is provided to users who purchase ZCS Network Edition. All customers who purchase are eligible for Basic service which includes Email, Support Portal access, Knowledge Base, and upgrades. Customers with a qualifying license commitment are eligible for Premium service which includes phone and 24x7 crisis support. Basic service customers are able to purchase "Per Incident" phone and crisis support if they wish.

Network trial users are also eligible for Basic support for the duration of their 60 day trial.

Why don't I have phone support?

Paying customers must have Premium support service or have paid for "Per Incident" phone support on top of their Basic support service. Network trial users are eligible for Basic Support only, which does not include phone support.

What happens when my Network Edition 60 day Trial license expires?

Your basic ZCS features will still be working, but the following occurs:

  • You can no longer add new user accounts
  • Zimbra Mobile and the Zimbra Outlook & iSync Connectors will be disabled
  • Administrators will see an alert message when they log into the Admin console

Of course, if you're not ready to purchase Network Edition but like Zimbra, you can always revert the Trial to the Open Source Edition. You will loose all the of Network Edition benefits, but your data will still be intact plus you will have basic features!

Admin Field Guide: Installation & Configuration

Here's some gotchas we hear about from the Zimbra Community when installing and configuring ZCS. Hope this makes for smooth sailing!

What are the pre-requirements for installing the Zimbra server, how do I avoid install hassles?

  • Do you have all the install pre-req's ironed out like compat-libstc++, selinux disabled, and port conflicts resolved. Installation will check and fail on any of these condition.
  • Pre-requirement: For Red Hat Enterprise, Fedora Core and SuSE operating systems, the server must also have the following installed
    • NPTL. Native POSIX Thread Library
    • Sudo. Superuser, required to delegate admins.
    • libidn. For internationalizing domain names in applications (IDNA)
    • cURL. A command line tool for transferring files with URL syntax
    • fetchmail. A remote-mail retrieval and forwarding utility used for on-demand TCIP/IP links.
    • GMP. GNU Multiple-Precision Library.
    • compat-libstdcc++-33. Compatibility Standard C++ libraries. ( NOTE: The 32-bit version of the compat-libstdc rpm package is required for both 32-bit or 64-bit servers. )
    • For Red Hat Enterprise only: compatlibstdcc++-296

Avoiding conflicts: what are the default port configurations when Zimbra is installed?

Default port usage:

  • Postfix 25
  • HTTP 80
  • POP3 110
  • IMAP 143
  • LDAP 389
  • HTTPS 443
  • Tomcat IMAP SSL 993
  • Tomcat POP SSL 995
  • Tomcat LMTP 7025

How do I make sure that DNS is configured correctly?

  • Overview of MTA and DNS
  • Make sure the default domain supplied in the DNS wizard is the actual email domain and not the FQDN of the box

What are the top issues affecting performance?

  • Make sure that your client machines satisfy the system requirements for systems specs, operating system, and browser.
  • Make sure the server machines meet the system requirements for hardware and operating system; size your hardware with growth in mind!
  • Review the system requirements (PDF)
    • Evaluation and testing: Intel/AMD 32-bit CPU 1.5 GHz, 1 GB RAM, 5 GB free disk space for software and logs, mail storage space
    • Production: Intel/AMD CPU 32-bit 2.0+ GHz, 2+ GB RAM, 10 GB free disk space for software and logs, mail storage space.
      • RAID-5 not recommended for installations with more than 100 accounts

How does the license key work?

  • The license key is provided to you in the Network trial registration email from the Sales Team.
  • When you do the installation you will automatically be provided a single user license (admin) to enable the install.
  • From the Admin UI (Global Settings / License / Update License) you can then apply the key to the trial system and provision up to 50 accounts for the life of the trial.
  • After the trial expires you will no longer be able to add new accounts but the ones you already have provisioned may still work for some time.
  • Existing customers with license issues can always visit the Support Portal

I can't get to the Admin UI when I type in the URL into my browser.

  • Make sure the URL connects to the Admin UI using SSL: "https" and to port ":7071" by default.

How do I change the Zimbra server's hostname?

How do I install the Network Edition Virtual Appliance?

We use Active Directory, what level of "access" into AD does Zimbra need to authenticate users?

  • In order for Zimbra to use external AD/LDAP for authentication and/or GAL, you need to create a user that can see all user objects in the AD schema.
  • Configuration of external auth/GAL is by means of an easy wizard in the Admin UI.

How do I access the Exchange migration tools?

  • In the Admin UI select the Wizard tab, you will find migration tools and documentation

Are there any known installation issues or help for troubleshooting?

How will the daylight savings time zone changes in 2007 affect ZCS Calendar?

General Product Questions

What features are available in the Network Edition Trial?

The Trial is fully featured: you have full access to everything including Outlook Connector, Zimbra Mobile, Clustering, and HSM for 60 days.

What phones are supported by Zimbra Mobile?

  • All Windows Mobile 5 devices
  • Symbian S60 and S80 devices like the Nokia E-Series, Palm devices like the Treo 700P sync natively with Zimbra. (Some require additional 3rd party plugins)
  • Blackberry is supported through a third party partner.

Which browsers does the web client work with?

  • Firefox 1.5+ on PC, Mac, Linux
  • Internet Explorer 6+ on PC
  • Safari 2.0+ on Mac

What versions of the Ubuntu Linux OS does Zimbra support?

We support Ubuntu 6.06 LTS (Long Term Support). This is the 'enterprise' version of Ubuntu and is officially supported by Canonical, the commercial arm of Ubuntu (this version will be supported by them for the next 3 - 5 years). When the next release candidate of "LTS" is available we will support it; the next candidate is likely 18 - 24 months out.

There are newer versions of Ubuntu (eg 6.10) available in their community but we do not support or test against them. Users who wish to install ZCS on these newer OS' obviously do so at their own risk.

What languages is Zimbra translated into?

  • French, German, Italian, Japanese, Finnish, Russian, among others.
  • The Zimbra Translations Wiki contains the latest list

Does Zimbra set a storage limit or quota on accounts?

Administrators can set any storage quota limit they feel is appropriate for an account (or multiple accounts via Class of Service) in a deployment, eg 54MB, 2.2GB, 4GB... Technically there is no physical storage limit imposed by the ZCS platform itself. But practically speaking, storage limits should be set based on the physical hard drive space available, number of users, limitations present in any sync 'end points', and overall growth projections. In the field we have seen office workers with Zimbra accounts as large as 6 to 7GB! (Don't ask us how someone gets that much email).

Can Zimbra scale to support large installations?

  • Zimbra supports installations from 25 mailboxes well past 1 million.

Does Zimbra support clustering?

  • Zimbra uses Red Hat Cluster Suite to provide M+N clustering of our mailbox servers.

Are there any instructions on making and installing Zimlets?

  • Many customers write Zimlets on their own, but you can find a list of Zimbra's publicly announced Zimlets in the Zimbra Gallery
  • There is a whitepaper available showing how to develop and deploy Zimlets Zimlet Whitepaper

Can you add 3rd party services to Zimbra like Barracuda AS/AV?

Yes - in addition to our native AS/AV, we can integrate with external AS/AV and many customers have done this.



Keywords: Tags: pricing , requirements , third party , clustering , scalability , quota , ofzd

Verified Against: N/A Date Created: 12/6/2006
Article ID: https://wiki.zimbra.com/index.php?title=FAQ Date Modified: 2008-01-11



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