Hello, One additional problem with this heretical idea ;) is it doesn't scale nearly as well. We have one db server, tuned for storage/retrieval of data, and we have 4 seperate dbmail servers all using it as a message store. As we add new spam filtering techniques, etc., which require more processing power, it's easy to just throw a couple more machines in the group of dbmail servers. If we moved all that processing to the db server, I don't think we could afford a machine with enough horsepower to do the job. That's definitely a huge advantage of a filesystem message store replacement with a rdbms one (though there are certainly others, too).
The idea as a whole is not without merit, as some of the points you've brought up indicate, but I think as a whole is probably not the right approach for dbmail. Possibly if you wanted to write it (of course postgres-only for now) and post your db schema/triggers/etc., you may get a small following of people using it. As mentioned, there has been filtering support already patched into dbmail (both a basic filter mechanism and sieve support), which you may find useful (search the mailing list for the patches). My $.02.... Jesse ---- Original Message ---- From: Bill Hacker <dbmail-dev@dbmail.org> To: dbmail-dev@dbmail.org Subject: Re: [Dbmail-dev] adding option to support anti-spam filters Sent: Fri, 21 Nov 2003 13:19:56 +0800 > Christian G. Warden wrote: > > > On Fri, Nov 21, 2003 at 02:34:39AM +0000, Feargal Reilly wrote: > > > >>Hi, I'm looking for thoughts on ways that dbmail could interact with > >>anti-spam software? > >> > >>I'm scanning users' mail with SpamAssassin which adds an 'X-Spam-Flag: > >>Yes' header to spam prior to delivering to dbmail. I want our pop3 > >>users not to have to download the mail which has been marked as spam, > >>but to retain it so they can review it in the web interface I'm > >>writing. (Anybody else out there use neowebscript? Didn't think so...) > >> > >>My plan is to adjust dbmail-smtp to scan the header for the > >>X-Spam-Flag, and if found, store the message in a 'Spam' mailbox. Then > >>I'll alter dbmail-pop3d not to include mail from the Spam mailbox. > >> > >>I'll also adjust dbmail-maintenance so that it sends a summary of the > >>spam mailbox. > > > > > > I think you're going about this the wrong way. If you want to > > quarantine spam (as opposed to rejecting it at SMTP, which I'd > > recommend), have your MTA deliver deliver it to a different dbmail mail > > box, e.g. > > if spam > > deliver to dbmail-smtp -m spam -u $user > > else > > deliver to dbmail-smtp -u $user > > > > No modification to dbmail needed, just a minor configuration change to > > your MTA. > > > > xn > > That is a whole lot easier to implement that the approach I just posted. > But may have to be re-implemented as the external MTA or toolsets change.. > > - It also tends to leave us with a system where all we have really > done is replace Maildirs or Mboxes with an RDBMS for message and > configuration storage. > > i.e raw or structured file sytem storage vs RDBMS for storage doesn't > really maximize the available RDBMS tools... > > ..and we are still utilizing conventional queues, pipelines, *whatever* > of the legacy MTA world, with attendent delays in the I/O. > > Why not simply get the messages straight into the DB, then apply the > filtering as a separate process before flagging the message as > 'available' to the POP or IMAP client? > > > Bill Hacker.. > > > > _______________________________________________ > Dbmail-dev mailing list > Dbmail-dev@dbmail.org > http://twister.fastxs.net/mailman/listinfo/dbmail-dev > -- End Original Message -- -- Jesse Norell jesse (at) kci.net
