POST is a decentralized, collaborative messaging system that leverages the resources of participating desktop computers. POST provides highly resilient and scalable messaging services, while ensuring confidentiality, data integrity, and authentication. The basic services provided by POST can be used to support a variety of collaborative applications. In this paper, we have sketched how POST can be used to construct ePOST, a cooperative, secure email system.
Prototype implementations of POST and ePOST exist and are currently under experimental evaluation. Implementations of calendaring and instant messaging applications are underway. We plan to start using ePOST shortly, initially within our research groups, and hope to expand the user base within Rice and LIP6 and beyond, as we gain experience and confidence in the system. Given users' dependence on email services, we view this as a proof of concept for mission-critical p2p systems, and as a vehicle to gain practical experience and workload trace data from such a system.