Apache James Mail Servers

James offers five types of ready-made Mail Servers. The servers are intended for those with different needs, ranging from Operators who are interested in setting up a server for the first time, to experienced teams of Developers looking to deploy an advanced distributed system. Each of the servers has been tested and verified so you can deploy a production-grade Mail Server with confidence.

The available James Servers are:

If you are just checking out James for the first time, then we highly recommend investigating the servers in this order:

  1. Initiate yourself with James by using the Demo Server

  2. Install the Basic Server

  3. If and only if the Basic Server is not enough, then try the Extendable Server

James Demo Server

The Demo Server is intended for those who just want to give James a quick spin on their local machine to see what all the fuss is about.

James Basic Mail Server

If you just want to get up and running quickly, if you have very simple needs, or you want to try deploying a mail server for the first time, then the Basic Server is the right choice for you. If you are not sure which server you should be using, then this server is probably the right choice.

This server is intended to be the simplest to set up and use in production. It has the least amount of complexity and configurations to worry about. The last thing you need is to have to resolve difficult issues on a production server when you have not yet acquired the requisite knowledge to deal with those issues. Using the Basic Server will help you reduce the risk of running into production issues.

James Extendable Mail Server

When your requirements start to get a little more serious, or you start to feel adventurous and want to begin your own email adventure, you can consider using the Extendable Server.

This server is intended for experts who understand the consequences of what they are doing. It provides extension mechanisms, configurations, and integration points to customize its behavior. Unless you are processing millions of emails on a daily basis (in which case you should consider the Distributed Server), this server should cover just about any email needs you may have.

James Distributed Mail Server

The Distributed Server is a heavy-duty industrial enterprise mail server.

This is the most feature-rich server, but also by far the most complex, and is intended for experts only.

James Test Server

The Test Server is, as the name suggests, for testing purposes.