# How nginx can improve imap webaccess

**URL:** <https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/how-nginx-can-improve-imap-webaccess/119318>\
**Category:** NGINX\
**Created:** [November 6, 2007, 12:00am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/how-nginx-can-improve-imap-webaccess/119318 "2007-11-06T00:00:40Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Alain\_Spineux](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Alain\_Spineux](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Alain_Spineux)\
**Post date:** [November 6, 2007, 12:00am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/how-nginx-can-improve-imap-webaccess/119318/1 "2007-11-06T00:00:40Z")

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Hello

I looked for long information about how nginx can improve IMAP !  
After hour I found this useful remark from Igor on this list:

You need nginx IMAP/POP3 proxy only if

1. you have several IMAP/POP3 backends,
2. you need the single enter point, say, [mail.domain.com](http://mail.domain.com),
3. and you have a LOT of IMAP/POP3 accounts (e.g. as  
fastmail.fm: [http://blog.fastmail.fm/?p=592](http://blog.fastmail.fm/?p=592) )

I was expecting nginx was able to filter login/logout command  
needed by “connection less” request from web client!  
But it doesnt happend !

Then my question ! Can nginx improve IMAP web client accesses ?

I know IMAP protocol, and I don’t see myself how to could be easy to  
cache  
status or LIST result, this why I ask.

Regards

Alain Spineux

PS : Maybe the Igor’s remark should be somewhere in the wiki !

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Alain\_Spineux](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Alain\_Spineux](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Alain_Spineux)\
**Post date:** [November 6, 2007, 9:47am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/how-nginx-can-improve-imap-webaccess/119318/2 "2007-11-06T09:47:25Z")

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Hi,

On Mon, 2007-11-05 at 15:14 +0000, Alain Spineux wrote:

> I was expecting nginx was able to filter login/logout command  
> needed by “connection less” request from web client!  
> But it doesnt happend !

Because it wasn’t designed to do that. It was designed to spread the  
load of tons of IMAP clients to several upstream IMAP servers.

> Then my question ! Can nginx improve IMAP web client accesses ?

I don’t think so, since nginx doesn’t support connection caching, and  
webmail issue is that the connections from the web server to the imap  
server are restarted on each web browser request.

> I know IMAP protocol, and I don’t see myself how to could be easy to cache  
> status or LIST result, this why I ask.

I think you should have a look to UP-imapproxy:

> **[Best Open Source Mac Software Development Software 2023](https://sourceforge.net/directory/software-development/mac/)**
>
> Compare the best free open source Mac Software Development Software at SourceForge. Free, secure and fast Mac Software Development Software downloads from the largest Open Source applications and software directory

[http://www.imapproxy.org/](http://www.imapproxy.org/) (which wasn’t responding this morning)

It has been designed to cache the connections from the web server to the  
imap server.

Hope that helps,