Bill,

There's a ringing endorsement of Verio. They told me that the server had a"group mail file" and all the users had their mail stored together. If I installed Dovecot, they said it would split the mailboxes up into individual files, and reduce the load on teh server, thus allowing it to better handle large mailboxes. I guess they are just making it up as they go along... thanks for the info though. I suppose I will seek an independent email host somewhere and have their mail forwarded, or upgrade my server on verio.

Thanks,

Darren

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RESPONSE TAG: 8483057671202 On 12/7/2007 at 10:49 PM Bill Cole wrote:

At 11:56 AM -0600 12/7/07, Darren McLaughlin wrote:

...

Is dovecot the right choice for this problem?

I have a shared server with verio. I have one particular client that sends and receives numerous large emails, and those emails were causing me to run out of processes on my verio server, and basically slow things down a great deal due to the shared mail queue. Verio suggested Dovecot to reduce server load and allow this one client to have less problems with sending and receiving email. Does this sound logical to anyone in the know?

It does not sound right. Dovecot is not involved in sending mail. It never comes anywhere near the mail queue.

It does sound about par for the course for Verio support though. Spot on.

Bill Cole bill@scconsult.com

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At 11:05 PM -0600 12/7/07, Darren McLaughlin wrote:

Bill,

There's a ringing endorsement of Verio.

And maybe not quite fair, since your first paraphrasing came across as further from reality than the second...

They told me that the server had a"group mail file" and all the users had their mail stored together. If I installed Dovecot, they said it would split the mailboxes up into individual files, and reduce the load on teh server, thus allowing it to better handle large mailboxes. I guess they are just making it up as they go along... thanks for the info though. I suppose I will seek an independent email host somewhere and have their mail forwarded, or upgrade my server on verio.

As Timo noted, that sounds a little closer to a common circumstance of a mailstore running UW-IMAP or qpopper or ipop3d some other old mailstore server that only uses classic mbox files. That's not one file for everyone, but one file for all of each user's delivered but undeleted mail. That can cause performance problems that are largely resistant to simple CPU or memory upgrades, so changing the mailstore format to something else like maildir (used by Dovecot and Courier) is a better approach. This is particularly a problem if you have users with very large collections of mail that they treat as permanent on the server but are only accessing via POP through a POP-only server.

Incidentally, it is helpful to understand and use the terminology/jargon carefully. A "mail queue" usually refers to the directories used for very temporary storage of mail on its way in or out of a server, while the terms "mailbox," "mailstore," "mail spool," and "mail file" usually refer to the place(s) where delivered messages sit until the user asks a POP or IMAP server handling those mailboxes to delete them. Mail queues are handled by mail transport agents, aka "MTA's" like Sendmail or Postfix.

Thanks,

Darren

*********** REPLY SEPARATOR ***********

RESPONSE TAG: 8483057671202 On 12/7/2007 at 10:49 PM Bill Cole wrote:

...

At 11:56 AM -0600 12/7/07, Darren McLaughlin wrote:

...

Is dovecot the right choice for this problem?

I have a shared server with verio. I have one particular client that sends and receives numerous large emails, and those emails were causing me to run out of processes on my verio server, and basically slow things down a great deal due to the shared mail queue. Verio suggested Dovecot to reduce server load and allow this one client to have less problems with sending and receiving email. Does this sound logical to anyone in the know?

It does not sound right. Dovecot is not involved in sending mail. It never comes anywhere near the mail queue.

It does sound about par for the course for Verio support though. Spot on.

Bill Cole bill@scconsult.com

-- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.503 / Virus Database: 269.16.17/1176 - Release Date: 12/6/2007 11:15 PM

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-. Darren McLaughlin Mindstream Technologies "Business Technology Consulting"

C: (217) 841-5167 P: (217) 867-2522 F: (217) 867-2522 .-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

-- Bill Cole bill@scconsult.com

At 6:40 PM -0600 12/8/07, Darren McLaughlin wrote:

Bill,

Thanks for your detailed explanation. I apologize for using incorrect terminology, but I am operating a little out of my depth as I have only 2 servers with Verio. I started with them years ago, as websites are a small part of my consulting, and as email has evolved so have the server issues, and the water has risen a little high for me here lately haha. Honestly, I was not solid on the terminology until you explained it there. It sounds like Dovecot may be the way to go on this problem. They say all I have to do is run a vinstall, and it will take care of everything, and does not require any ongoing maintenance. Is that realistic, or are there areas I should be checking occassionaly.

I'm always suspicious when anyone tells me that pushing one button automagically fixes a complex problem, but if your problem is simple enough and Verio's package is reasonable, it might be enough to make you server's mail ignorable for some time.

-- Bill Cole bill@scconsult.com