Webmail application that doesn't abuse the IMAP server?

[Ken Murchison]

Gary Mills wrote:
> Does anyone know of an e-mail web application that doesn't abuse the
> IMAP server by making short connections?  Most of them simply connect
> and disconnect with each HTTP transaction.  Is there one that behaves
> the same as an IMAP client, using one connection for the duration of
> the session.  An IMAP proxy is not adequate because most of them only
> cache TCP connections and perhaps authentication.  These are generally
> not the source of most of the transaction overhead.

So what part of the connection to you perceive as the most expensive? 
The selection of the mailbox?  This might be cacheable, but that depends 
on how the webmail client is written (ie, simply caching it might screw 
up some of the client's logic).

FWIW, Dave McMurtrie's imapproxy (http://www.imapproxy.org/) works quite 
well with IMP/Cyrus, and is very well written.  It doesn't cache the 
selected mailbox, but it does keep an authenticated (and optionally 
encrypted) connection open with the server.

-- 
Kenneth Murchison     Oceana Matrix Ltd.
Software Engineer     21 Princeton Place
716-662-8973 x26      Orchard Park, NY 14127
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