RE: [A try again . . .] Mail Server
On 02-Nov-99 John Smith wrote:
> Dear Mentor List;
>
> I would like to apologize for my previous mail where I placed redhat
> instead of debian, I do ask for forgiveness. I currently use RedHat, but
> I have been asked to migrate the services to a Debian environment. Now,
> I use debian as a workstation, but have never tried as a server. That is
> why I seek guidance, and unfortunatly, that is why my email address
> begins with "redhat", due to my past situation. In the end, all boils
> down to me being a new systems engineer in this area under debian, so I
> would like to have some help.
>
> Much Respect
>
> John Smith
>
Its ok, I have been known to make a few mistakes, from time to time ;-)
You really should ask the question on debian-user, as debian-mentors is a
list for people seeking help in BUILDING packages...but...here are my
thoughts...and I am sure others will have other opinions.
1. What is the best mail software for Redhat ?
INFO : The mail server has to be SMTP / POP3 and WILL have a very nasty
load of users.
I swear by sendmail, but you might want to decide on what one
seems easiest for you to administer. Pop3 is a different question
and is usually handled by qpopper or cucipop, both are good programs.
2. What would be the best platform for this server ?
INFO : We currently have COMPAQ Proliant's ranging from the 1600 to 7000
\).
You mostlikely want a system with 350+mh, and a LOT of disk for
temporary storage for that many users. Make /var its own partition
so that the temporary files for mail will be easially modified.
3. What would be the best kernel for a vast majority of user load ?
INFO : I am looking at 14.000 users, sending and recieving mail
Another question of taste. but definately a 2.2.x kernel, the
latest in the debian archive is 2.2.13
4. What kind of software would be the best for fault tolerant systems ?
INFO : If server A falls down, then server B takes over.
For email, you can handle this in DNS by setting the MX records, get the
books for both sendmail and dns from O'Reilly. they would be extremely helpfull.
Another thing to consider is setting up RAID on your servers, for the
redundancy in case of a failure, and because the read seeds are better
with RAID disks than non duplexed disks.
Just my humble opinion.
---
Jim Westveer <jwest@netnw.com>
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I get to work, flip the excuse page over:
Free Radicals suspected, processing terminated".
Fair enough, looks like it's gointo be a good day.
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E-Mail: Jim Westveer <jwest@netnw.com>
phone 425-392-0141
fax 425-557-0660 Date: 02-Nov-99
URL lcs.issaquah.wa.us Time: 09:23:56
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