Alternatives to SQLMail

Hi,

We encountered a situation a few days where our SQLMail stopped working. We are using SQL Server 2000, SP4 and an Exchange Server. Prior to the SQLMail stopping we had experienced problems with our Exchange Server for a period of time.

Researching on the Internet, I've found several explanations that all read:

"The most common cause of this problem is a temporary loss of the network connection to the e-mail server. This problem most often occurs when SQL Mail is configured to use Internet protocols for message delivery, although it can also occur when communicating with a Microsoft Exchange host.

When SQL Mail loses a connection to the e-mail server, the Extended MAPI components display a message that requests user action as to whether or not to continue. This message does not appear on the server because SQL Mail is run from the SQL Server service. Because the message does not appear, there is no way to respond to the message to allow SQL Mail to continue. Even if the network connection becomes available, SQL Mail does not retry the connection.

To work around the problem, you must stop and restart SQL Server."

I believe this is the situation that we encountered. However stopping and restarting SQL Server did not solve the problem. We had to reboot the machine before the SQL Mail started working again. This is a production machine that we don't just want to "reboot at will", so I'm a little concerned about this issue.

My question is - are there any alternatives to using SQLMail? I have stored procedures that call xp_sendmail (and then xp_stopmail) to send email notifications in certain instances. Is there something else that I can/should use in its place? I found a reference that stated "To resolve the problem, update your applications to use Database Mail.", but this was on a SQL Server 2005 page, and apparently Database Mail is not part of SQL Server 2000.

Thanks,
Beth

YES!

The preferred alternative is xp_smtpmail. You 'should' NOT be using MAPI mail with SQL 2000 -for several reasons

Read about it and download from:

Email for SQL Server 2000
http://www.sqldev.net/xp/xpsmtp.htm

|||Is there any article/link that explains why "You 'should' NOT be using MAPI mail with SQL 2000"?

Thanks for the info on xp_smtpmail - I'll take a look at it.
Beth

|||

This first link is from one of the SQL Dev Team members.

http://sqljunkies.com/WebLog/euang/archive/2004/03/16/1617.aspx

http://www.windowsitpro.com/Articles/ArticleID/14116/14116.html?Ad=1

http://www.developersdex.com/sql/message.asp?p=1925&ID=%3C943EC1D1-1E2A-413A-8DF5-A5F919125DD9%40microsoft.com%3E

Top Causes of SQL Server Downtime (Item #2)
http://www.sqlmag.com/Article/ArticleID/40011/sql_server_40011.html

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb%3ben-us%3bQ315886

Google? for: sql and server and mapi and problems. You'll probably notice a couple hundred thousand hits...

'nuf said.