On Thu, 24 Oct 2002, Dana Holland wrote: > We're about to purchase a new box to act as a mail server - our current > mail server resides on a box with a lot of other applications. > > I think I've just about made up my mind to go with sendmail (version > that comes with RH), but I'm getting conflicting reports on what size > box we need to buy. We're looking at Dell as the manufacturer - we've > been told everything from a 2650 to a 6600 series. I'm really not sure > which way to go. Currently we have about 350 email users - but there's > the potential that we may offer free email accounts to our students - in > that case there could be as many as 5100 additional accounts.
Before committing to sendmail, take a look at postfix and qmail. (I have modest needs compared to yours, so sendmail works for me) According to what I have read here and on the mailhelp mailing list (www.moongroup.com) both of them are supposed to be much more efficient than sendmail. Which server you pick is really up to your budget. Which one you need depends on how many emails are sent & received by the 350 users. Since RH linux can be moved from one computer to another with virtually no changes, I'd try to find a working pc somewhere and get the mail up and running for the 350 users. See what the load on the pc is and then decide whether you need more horsepower. Assuming the load is high, look for where the bottleneck is and address that issue before buying new hardware. Same goes for when you bring the students on board. I would do it a group at a time (not all 5100 at once) and assess server load after adding each batch of students. That, of course, is the ideal answer. If you have a budget that you **HAVE** to spend then get the most horsepower that you can afford now and fuggetaboutit. > > And, lastly, do you think I should wait for RH 8 to be available through > Dell, or should I look at Advanced Server for the OS? RH 7.3 should be just fine. Otherwise the same answer as above. Once you get the first 350 users up and running, see what the load on the server is. Read the web page on the advanced server and call RH sales if you have additional questions. Ask to speak to a technical sales person. Mark -- redhat-list mailing list unsubscribe mailto:redhat-list-request@;redhat.com?subject=unsubscribe https://listman.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/redhat-list
