dovecot - Jul 2012 - Outlook 2010 very slow when using IMAP - are there any tweaks?

Hi,

though this is a bit of a side question, has anybody had an issue
while running Outlook 2010 with Dovecot?

The reason why I am asking is that I have setup a Dovecot 2.1.7 server
on FreeBSD which works fantastically with Thunderbird but Outlook
seems to be twice as slow in transferring information across??


# dovecot -n
# 2.1.7: /usr/local/etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf
# OS: FreeBSD 8.2-RELEASE amd64
auth_debug = yes
auth_mechanisms = plain ntlm login
auth_use_winbind = yes
auth_username_format = %n
auth_verbose = yes
auth_winbind_helper_path = /usr/local/bin/ntlm_auth
disable_plaintext_auth = no
info_log_path = /var/log/dovecot-info.log
log_path = /var/log/dovecot.log
mail_gid = mail_user
mail_home = /mail/AD_Mail/%Ld/%Ln
mail_location = maildir:~/Maildir
mail_uid = mail_user
passdb {
  args = failure_show_msg=yes
  driver = pam
}
pop3_fast_size_lookups = yes
pop3_lock_session = yes
pop3_no_flag_updates = yes
protocols = imap pop3
ssl = no
userdb {
  driver = static
}




Since (like most corporate organizations out there) we solely run
Outlook coupled to Exchange, this excersize was meant to be a way of
getting rid of PST files. We don't run out own Exchange however, and
don't have any control over it either.


My workaround was to simply use the Outlook GUI space to transfer
emails between Exchange and Dovecot running the IMAPv4 protocol.


For whatever reason Outlook is being really garbage about dealing with
stuff and since I don't know Outlook or MS products very well (being
your typical average OpenSource guy) I was wondering if there were any
tweaks that could be made within Outlook to speed it up or in Dovecot
to work better with Outlook?


I guess one could get sidetracked into the argument of mdbox vs.
Maildir from my config however, Thunderbird is really fast and
transfers large amounts of data really easily. Reaches round 130Mbps
using nload performance grapher, while Outlook only manages ~50kbps
but spikes at 2-3Mbps on occassion.


Can anyone offer any guidence or assistance in this matter??


Actually wherever I run Dovecot, including my servers at home, it is
fast and reliable. Yes I know MS is the polar opposite of anything
worth using however, my company won't change and I'm stuck banging my
head against the wall while trying to get MS to interface with
ANYTHING.....


Regards,


Kaya

On 02/07/2012 15:34, Kaya Saman wrote:
> Hi,
>
> though this is a bit of a side question, has anybody had an issue
> while running Outlook 2010 with Dovecot?
>
>
Yes, as far as being an IMAP client Outlook 2010 has not been any good 
for me, slow, hangs, various non-intuitive issues...

Thunderbird works a treat and I use it all the time, until someone sends 
me a meeting request from an Outlook client.

-- 
Regards,

Giles Coochey, CCNA, CCNAS
NetSecSpec Ltd
+44 (0) 7983 877438
http://www.coochey.net
http://www.netsecspec.co.uk
giles at coochey.net


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Il 02/07/2012 16:34, Kaya Saman ha scritto:
> Hi,
>
> though this is a bit of a side question, has anybody had an issue
> while running Outlook 2010 with Dovecot?
>
> The reason why I am asking is that I have setup a Dovecot 2.1.7 server
> on FreeBSD which works fantastically with Thunderbird but Outlook
> seems to be twice as slow in transferring information across??
>
>
> # dovecot -n
> # 2.1.7: /usr/local/etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf
> # OS: FreeBSD 8.2-RELEASE amd64
> auth_debug = yes
> auth_mechanisms = plain ntlm login
> auth_use_winbind = yes
> auth_username_format = %n
> auth_verbose = yes
> auth_winbind_helper_path = /usr/local/bin/ntlm_auth
> disable_plaintext_auth = no
> info_log_path = /var/log/dovecot-info.log
> log_path = /var/log/dovecot.log
> mail_gid = mail_user
> mail_home = /mail/AD_Mail/%Ld/%Ln
> mail_location = maildir:~/Maildir
> mail_uid = mail_user
> passdb {
>    args = failure_show_msg=yes
>    driver = pam
> }
> pop3_fast_size_lookups = yes
> pop3_lock_session = yes
> pop3_no_flag_updates = yes
> protocols = imap pop3
> ssl = no
> userdb {
>    driver = static
> }
>
>
>
>
> Since (like most corporate organizations out there) we solely run
> Outlook coupled to Exchange, this excersize was meant to be a way of
> getting rid of PST files. We don't run out own Exchange however, and
> don't have any control over it either.
>
>
> My workaround was to simply use the Outlook GUI space to transfer
> emails between Exchange and Dovecot running the IMAPv4 protocol.
>
>
> For whatever reason Outlook is being really garbage about dealing with
> stuff and since I don't know Outlook or MS products very well (being
> your typical average OpenSource guy) I was wondering if there were any
> tweaks that could be made within Outlook to speed it up or in Dovecot
> to work better with Outlook?
>
>
> I guess one could get sidetracked into the argument of mdbox vs.
> Maildir from my config however, Thunderbird is really fast and
> transfers large amounts of data really easily. Reaches round 130Mbps
> using nload performance grapher, while Outlook only manages ~50kbps
> but spikes at 2-3Mbps on occassion.
Try to understand (from dovecot logs) if there are difference between 
outlook and thunderbird, for example outlook connect over ssl and 
thunderbird no ecc..

Nicola
>
>
> Can anyone offer any guidence or assistance in this matter??
>
>
> Actually wherever I run Dovecot, including my servers at home, it is
> fast and reliable. Yes I know MS is the polar opposite of anything
> worth using however, my company won't change and I'm stuck banging
my
> head against the wall while trying to get MS to interface with
> ANYTHING.....
>
>
> Regards,
>
>
> Kaya
>

On Mon, Jul 2, 2012 at 3:37 PM, Giles Coochey <giles at coochey.net>
wrote:
> On 02/07/2012 15:34, Kaya Saman wrote:
>>
>> Hi,
>>
>> though this is a bit of a side question, has anybody had an issue
>> while running Outlook 2010 with Dovecot?
>>
>>
> Yes, as far as being an IMAP client Outlook 2010 has not been any good for
> me, slow, hangs, various non-intuitive issues...
>
> Thunderbird works a treat and I use it all the time, until someone sends me
> a meeting request from an Outlook client.
>
> --
> Regards,
>
> Giles Coochey, CCNA, CCNAS
> NetSecSpec Ltd
> +44 (0) 7983 877438
> http://www.coochey.net
> http://www.netsecspec.co.uk
> giles at coochey.net
>
>
Thanks Giles, but unfortunately as stated before T-Bird won't connect
to our remote Exchange server which doesn't have IMAP active for
various reasons......

I prefer Alpine myself but try running that on Windows 7 (forced to at
work :-( ).


Regards,

Kaya

Am 02.07.2012 16:34, schrieb Kaya Saman:
> Hi,
> 
> though this is a bit of a side question, has anybody had an issue
> while running Outlook 2010 with Dovecot?
> 
> The reason why I am asking is that I have setup a Dovecot 2.1.7 server
> on FreeBSD which works fantastically with Thunderbird but Outlook
> seems to be twice as slow in transferring information across??
Hi, must be your setup no Problems here with
 Outlook 2010, sorry no time recent for analyse your posted config
-- 
Best Regards
MfG Robert Schetterer

> though this is a bit of a side question, has anybody had an issue while 
> running Outlook 2010 with Dovecot?
No because i don't use that shit and enforce anyone not to do this.

Outlook is terrible and even worse with imap. It is not Dovecot fault and 
have nothing to Dovecot.

Just replace Outlook with real MUA that actually works.

If someone wants to continue using that shit then it is not your problem 
but his/her problem, and all responsibility of doing this should go to the 
user.

The only tweak is to install real mail client. period.