Autonomic E-mail Services for Better Storage Management

The proliferation of software services on the Web can be seen as the primary wave of evolution in the Internet age. As one of the most important services of the Internet, e-mail is used for business and personal communication. E-mail service providers(free or otherwise) still face a veritable administrative challenge with problems like spam mail, with the magnitude of this problem only increasing at a fearful rate. Managing the burgeoning volume and size of e-mail has brought into picture issues like server uptime, optimal utilization of available resources, and storage discipline. These need to be addressed distinctly with new vigour. In this paper we present services with autonomic features which can be provided in an Internet/intranet environment by setting thresholds, using e-mail reservoirs, and sharing/loaning e-mail storage space of designated users, and designation of such storage in user inboxes as overflow e-mailboxes. Services are also implementable as business methods where charges are made to users or e-mail providers who borrow space and credit given to those who lend space so as to enable a transparent, resilient and flexible mechanism to deal with the unpredictability associated with e-mail size and volume well within the precincts of total available storage space.