Re: Mailserver HDD organization

[Alvin Oga <aoga@Maggie.Linux-Consulting.com>]

hi ivo

for partitions...
	- i prefer smallest/reasonable / partitions ( 64M or 128M etc )
		- getting into single user mode is extremely important
	- /var/spool/{mail,mqueue} in a mail server should
	  be its own "huge" partitions ??? 
	- /home doesnt mean much for mail servers 
	  ( user stuff is all in /opt 
		ln -s /opt/home /
		ln -s /opt/local /usr

	- if you run secure imap, you'd have to worry about quota
	  for /home where their mail is saved

	- i like having /tmp in its own partitions ( 128Mb? )
	- i do NOT use /boot as separate partitions
	- must not forget about swap partition ( 256M or so )
	  and if swap space is used constantly, add more memory
	- i like having /opt to be the rest of the disk
	- if you build your own kernel.. i claim you'd need to keep
	  the current initrd.gz  or make your own custom initrd.gz
	  so that it can read the scsi disks... ( catch-22 issue )
	
- more partition-howtos
	http://www.Linux-1U.net/Installation/partition.gwif.html

- Picture of partitions layout on a disk... ( middle of the page )
	http://www.Linux-1U.net/Disks

- Debian Security howto
	http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/securing-debian-howto/

- for a secure mail server...
	http://www.Linux-Sec.net
	-- see the various hardening methodologies
		http://www.Linux-Sec.net/Harden/howto.gwif.html

	- harden the file system
	- harden the daemons/services
	- apply all the patches
	- run secure pop3/imap if users insists on "pop-style" mua
	- subscribe to security mailing lists and distro/app specific ml
	- install one or more anti-virus sw
	- backup your system daily ???
	- users probably would like their mailboxes backed up hourly ??

	http://www.Linux-Sec.net/Mail/#AntiVirus
	http://www.Linux-Sec.net/Mail/secure_pop3.txt

- simulate a disk crash ( unplug it )
	-
	- see if you can recover
	- how many/how much users emails did you lose ??
	-	should be zero with raid1 mirror

for runing a raid1 mirror ... that should be fun/simple to setup
	- be sure to use the "fd" (raid autodetect) partitition type

	http://www.1U-Raid5.net

have fun linuxing
alvin

On 17 Jan 2002, eim wrote:

> Hallo to everyone on the Debian Sec. List,
> 
> I'm actually planing to install a new mailserver
> on network, the mailserver will substitute an existing
> one which runs of course Debain GNU/Linux potato and sendmail.
> 
> The new server will be a P266Mhz 128 | 65 MB Ram with 2x 8GB
> IBM ULTRA WIDE SCSI HDD and oviously 100 MB network connection.
> 
> The software I plan to run on the new server is Debian Potato
> with exim as MTA, mailman for the lists and some other stuff.
> 
> My real problem is the HDD Organization, the actual server has
> all his / (root) in RAID 1 Mirrored via software on two IBM HDD
> which each one is 2 GB.
> 
> I don't want to have only one big root parition on the new server,
> it's not recomanded, isnt' it ?
> 
> I was thinking about a partition for /, one for boot, one for
> /var/spool/mail and some other important system parts.
> 
> Has anyone real-life examples of running mailservers,
> maybe some HDD organization infos, MTA infos and other
> importante related know-how to run a secure and stable
> mailserver on my network.
> 
> Thanks for any reply,
> Have a nice day...