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Key points

• We’re migrating to a Zimbra server which is the same platform that Yahoo! Mail uses. It has a much nicer web interface and will allow us to scale our mail systems in the future.
• There should be no service disruption. Mail cannot be lost based on the migration plan we have. At worst it’ll be delivered to your old mailbox when you check your new mailbox, and we can rectify that.
• Your outgoing mail server (SMTP) does not change. This is very important. The Frontier Group does not send mail on your behalf.
• Your incoming mail server for all Frontier Group accounts should (already) be mail.thefrontiergroup.net.au
• hotrod.thefrontiergroup.net.au is being deprecated and any accounts that reference this server should be updated to mail.thefrontiergroup.net.au immediately.

Who does this impact?

Only customers that are collecting email directly from The Frontier Group’s mail servers will be affected. If you use a local Microsoft Exchange server or have the email for your domain forwarded from The Frontier Group to another mail server (like your internet service provider) then this will not affect you.

NOTE: This does not affect your SMTP server setting. It may only affect your incoming mail (POP3 or IMAP) setting. Do not make any changes to your SMTP settings or you will be unable to send email.

What’s going on?

Currently email comes into our network via our IronPort anti-spam and anti-virus appliance. That email is then delivered to a Frontier Group mail server or is sent offsite to a third party. In the case that your mail is delivered to a Frontier Group mail server, you may need to update the account details within your email client to accommodate the new server.

Do I need to change anything?

Possibly. Now is a good time to ensure you are collecting your email from mail.thefrontiergroup.net.au because mail services on other servers will be shut down in the coming week.

If you are collecting your mail from another server, like hotrod.thefrontiergroup.net.au adjust the server entry to be mail.thefrontiergroup.net.au.

If you are collecting mail from a third party, like a Microsoft Exchange server or your ISP then you don’t need to adjust anything.

The process

We have configured a new mail server to mirror the current configuration, which means that your domains, accounts, passwords, aliases and distribution lists have been converted and migrated. Over the coming week we will be synchronizing your mailbox to ensure that your old mail is available on the new Zimbra server.

Just before we “throw the switch” we will send out another email indicating that the change is happening immediately. This will be at midnight on a weekday.

Then we will be updating the DNS records so that mail.thefrontiergroup.net.au points to the new mail server.

Lastly we’ll send an email indicating that the change over has been completed. If you receive that email then you’ll know everything is working fine.

Because we’ve set your new account up with the same username and password, the first time you check your mail after we make the change it should be from the new mail server. You shouldn’t have to change a thing.

You may need to enter your password again. Our staff can reset your password if you have forgotten it.

Your immediate next steps

If you have an IT department or use the services of an IT consultant, forward this information to them and ask that they check you are configured correctly to handle this change. That way, when we enact these changes you won’t experience any disruptions.

Our staff are able to assist you with any queries you may have regarding this. You can contact them via (08) 9322 3055 or email support@thefrontiergroup.com.au.