Mail server appliance and support service
First Claim
1. A method of configuring a mail server appliance for operation with a support service, comprising:
- receiving a request for a domain name from the support service to be assigned to the mail server appliance;
receiving a request for a certificate for the mail server appliance that asserts ownership of the requested domain name;
authenticating the request for the certificate from the mail server appliance;
assigning the requested domain name to the mail server appliance based on whether the request has been authenticated and whether the domain name is available;
recording a mail exchange record for the assigned domain name that points to mail servers of the support service;
configuring mail servers of the support service to accept and relay mail for the requested domain name to the mail server appliance;
receiving an ODMR request from the mail server appliance;
recording an address from which the ODMR request originated; and
relaying mail to the recorded address for the domain owned by the mail server appliance.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Embodiments of the present invention provide electronic mail that is easy to automatically setup. Embodiments of the invention provide a mail server appliance that is designed to operate with a support service. Each mail server appliance is pre-configured to use the support service as part of an integrated product. The mail server appliance is configured for ease of installation and maintenance and comprises the hardware bundled with the software applications pre-installed. The mail server appliance is also coupled to the support service and may begin operations almost immediately. The support service serves as the primary relay point for sending/receiving mail for the mail server appliance and provides various supporting features. First, it provides pre-installation services for the mail server appliance. Second, the support service provides flexible operations support. For example, the support service allows the mail server appliance to have a dynamically assigned IP address. In addition, the support service may provide continuous availability and backup services for the mail server appliance.
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Citations
30 Claims
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1. A method of configuring a mail server appliance for operation with a support service, comprising:
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receiving a request for a domain name from the support service to be assigned to the mail server appliance; receiving a request for a certificate for the mail server appliance that asserts ownership of the requested domain name; authenticating the request for the certificate from the mail server appliance; assigning the requested domain name to the mail server appliance based on whether the request has been authenticated and whether the domain name is available; recording a mail exchange record for the assigned domain name that points to mail servers of the support service; configuring mail servers of the support service to accept and relay mail for the requested domain name to the mail server appliance; receiving an ODMR request from the mail server appliance; recording an address from which the ODMR request originated; and relaying mail to the recorded address for the domain owned by the mail server appliance. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A method of configuring a mail server appliance for operation with a support service, said method comprising:
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receiving a request for a domain name from the support service to be assigned to the mail server appliance; receiving a request for a certificate for the mail server appliance that asserts ownership of the requested domain name; authenticating the request for the certificate from the mail server appliance; assigning the requested domain name to the mail server appliance based on whether the request has been authenticated and whether the domain name is available; recording a mail exchange record for the assigned domain name that points to mail servers of the support service; and configuring mail servers of the support service to accept and relay mail for the requested domain name to the mail server appliance; receiving an ODMR request from the mail server appliance; recording an address from which the ODMR request originated; and relaying mail to the recorded address for the domain owned by the mail server appliance; the configuring comprising; determining an availability of communications between the support service and the mail server appliance, and queuing mail for the mail server appliance based on the availability of communications between the support service and the mail server appliance. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10)
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11. A method of configuring a mail server appliance for operation with a support service, said method comprising:
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receiving a request for a domain name from the support service to be assigned to the mail server appliance; receiving a request for a certificate for the mail server appliance that asserts ownership of the requested domain name; authenticating the request for the certificate from the mail server appliance; assigning the requested domain name to the mail server appliance based on whether the request has been authenticated and whether the domain name is available; recording a mail exchange record for the assigned domain name that points to mail servers of the support service; and configuring mail servers of the support service to accept and relay mail for the requested domain name to the mail server appliance; receiving an ODMR request from the mail server appliance; recording an address from which the ODMR request originated; and relaying mail to the recorded address for the domain owned by the mail server appliance; the configuring comprising; determining if the mail server appliance has failed to authenticate its request for mail, and queuing mail for the mail server appliance when the mail server appliance has failed to authenticate. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14)
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15. A support service system for configuring a mail server appliance for operation with a support service comprising:
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a database storing private and public key pairs assigned to a mail server appliance; a server configured to; host a domain name and associated records for the mail server appliance, and determine an availability of communications between the support service and the mail server appliance; receive a request for a domain name from the support service to be assigned to the mail server appliance; receive a request for a certificate for the mail server appliance that asserts ownership of the requested domain name; authenticate the request for the certificate from the mail server appliance; assign the requested domain name to the mail server appliance based on whether the request has been authenticated and whether the domain name is available; record a mail exchange record for the assigned domain name that points to mail servers of the support service; and configure mail servers of the support service to accept and relay mail for the requested domain name to the mail server appliance by determining an availability of communications between the support service and the mail server appliance; receive an ODMR request from the mail server appliance; record an address from which the ODMR request originated; and relay mail to the recorded address for the domain owned by the mail server appliance; a set of mail servers configured to; accept mail for the domain name to the mail server appliance, and queue mail for the mail server appliance based on the availability of communications between the support service and the mail server appliance. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A support service system for configuring a mail server appliance for operation with a support service comprising:
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a database storing private and public key pairs assigned to a mail server appliance; a server configured to; host a domain name and associated records for the mail server appliance; receive a request for a domain name from the support service to be assigned to the mail server appliance; receive a request for a certificate for the mail server appliance that asserts ownership of the requested domain name; authenticate the request for the certificate from the mail server appliance; assign the requested domain name to the mail server appliance based on whether the request has been authenticated and whether the domain name is available; record a mail exchange record for the assigned domain name that points to mail servers of the support service; configure mail servers of the support service to accept and relay mail for the requested domain name to the mail server appliance; receive an ODMR request from the mail server appliance; record an address from which the ODMR request originated; and relay mail to the recorded address for the domain owned by the mail server appliance; a set of mail servers configured to— accept mail for the domain name to the mail server appliance, and allow mail to be downloaded by the mail server appliance using ODMR. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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Specification