7. Current situation: Z-Push 1.5.10
• Z-Push 1.x code base 5 years old
• Development & improvement of
1.5.x for 1,5 years
• Considered very stable
• Generally good support of devices
• Supports ActiveSync 2.5
(comparable with MSEX 2003)
– Early days of mobility
– Only plaintext email possible
(with the exception of iOS)
8. Challenges and requirements
• New devices & compatibility
– Many new devices with different levels of compatibility
– Theoretically using the same standard
• New functionalities
– HTML emails
– Better state management
– Stability improvements
– Improve code flexibility and maintainability
9. Side story: why is compatibility such an issue?
• Official situation of Android fragmentation
Source: http://developer.android.com/resources/dashboard/platform-versions.html on 12/06/2012
10. Android fragmentation: What we see ...
• Fragmentation of Brands
Source: http://mashable.com/2012/05/16/android-fragmentation-graphic/ on 12/06/2012
11. Android fragmentation: What we see ...
• Fragmentation of Devices
Source: http://mashable.com/2012/05/16/android-fragmentation-graphic/ on 12/06/2012
12. Fragmentation is not the issue itself
• Fragmentation itself is not that bad:
In general “things work” !
Compatibility issues are caused by manufacturers/brands:
A device should have
unique features and a unique feeling
Example “HTC sense” - completely different ActiveSync client
This is something we do not see with iOS (while we see other really
nasty issues there)
13. Not optimal ‚things„ with Z-Push 1.5
• Re-creation of the ActiveSync profiles of the users necessary in
many cases
• Synchronization states are hardly manageable
– Broken/missing states cause duplicates on mobile
• No effective error detection
• Invalid mapi data “drives devices crazy”
– Battery drain
– „incoming loops‟ (same item created various times on the server)
– Never ending synchronisations
• Many concurrent push connections (especially from iOS)
• Code extensibility limited
14. The goal
• Major code changes and developments
• ActiveSync v. 12 & higher support (for mobile features)
• Independent state management
• Introduce policy management
• Extensible architecture
• Open platform to implement further functionalities, like device
management
Others
• Error handling (signalling to the device)
• Better support for other Z-Push backends
15. Z-Push 2.0 - Where are we now?
• 1,5 years development
• 11 preview releases
• In 2012 one beta release per month
• 4500 alpha, beta & RC versions downloads
• A lot of valuable feedback from the community
• ActiveSync v. 14 support (not complete)
• Restructured and much rewritten code
20. What else? Real push notifications!
• In combination with ZCP 7.0.6+ real notifications are
available by using a “changes sink”!
Polling vs. Notification
3
ZCP 1 Z-Push 2
ZCP 4 Z-Push
Z-Push registers with the server
Z-Push checks (1) with the on which folders it wants to be
server every X seconds (2) notified on changes (3).
if changes are available
On change, server notifies Z-Push (4).
21. New mobile features
• Enable/Disable Out-of-office
• “Todo/Red”-flag support
• Recurring Task support
• Server side email search
• Synchronisation of Notes
(Touchdown-only feature)
• Support for the Android 4 phones and RIM Playbook
• Synchronisation of public folders (configurable by admin)
– Additional Emails folder visible on all devices
– Additional Calendar and Contact folders only on iOS
22. Other Features
• Improved state management (over z-push-admin)
• Detection of undesired behaviour (loop detection)
• Tracking of concurrent push connections
• Remote wipe always available (even with deleted user)
• Improved timezone support
• “Heartbeat” push available
– push (ping) functionality combined with immediate
synchronization of changes
23. Real notifications & heartbeat functionality
“BlackBerry Experience”
with ActiveSync
Currently supported by
Android 4 and
Windows Phone 7+
24. Updates from other Z-Push backends
• Community is getting very active
– Zimbra community backend already Z-Push 2
compatible
– Citadel just signed contribution agreement and
started to implement for Z-Push 2.0
– PHP-Push developing Caldav e Carddav backends
– Kolab backend is still operating on Z-Push 1.5.x
25. Next step ?
• Z-Push 2.0 released yesterday!
Give it a try!
Better/More New
• Control • Features
• Flexibility • Tools
• Manageability • Supported devices
• Compatibility • User friendlier (profiles)
• Performance
26. Z-Push 1.5 Support
• Complementary support until 31.12.2012
• Upgrade support afterwards
• Be aware that with Z-Push 1.5 more BYOD
incompatibilities
are to be expected
• Currently Android 4 &
BlackBerry Playbook
are already not
supported with 1.5.x
27. Where does it go?
• MDM plugin for Webapp with new features
– More synchronization status information
– Messages/objects which could not be synchronized
– Open shared folders (contacts & calendars only on iOS)
• Planning 2.x:
– Encrypted & signed emails
– Auto-discovery
– Policy management tool
• Packaging
– Easier installation & upgrade
28. Keep in touch
• Announcements on Zarafa Release & Beta list
Subscribe at http://zarafa.com/newsletter
• Public Bug tracker: http://z-push.sf.net/tracker
• Latest downloads: http://z-push.sf.net/download
(beta & finals)
• Sources at BerliOS: https://svn.berlios.de/wsvn/z-push/
• Compatibility list: http://z-push.sf.net/compatibility
Always up-to-date list about known devices and potential compatibility
issues.
29. This afternoon
“Z-Push 2.0 for administrators”
on Track 2 (T2) at 13:30 hrs
Thank you for your attention!
