> Actually we are considering returning the product over concerns
> regarding scalability -- but really, guys, w/o disparaging iMail,
> are there any other serious email server contenders for ISPs and
> webhosting companies that are worth considering?
FYI, I had the morning from hell today. It started with a call at 3:30AM that the
mail server was down, and ended (hopefully!) about an hour ago. Yet, IMail ran
virtually perfectly the whole time. The only "problem" with IMail is that when the
Internet connection came back up, it couldn't connect to other mail servers, when
McAfee's terrible WebShield SMTP was using 100% CPU and had about 5,000 sockets open.
The two things at fault: [1] UUNET had a major network outage apparently covering
most of the east coast, from about 2:30AM to about 4:30AM EST. Once UUNET was back in
business, [2] WebShield SMTP went kablooey (did I spell that right?), likely because
of a higher-than-usual volume of E-mail. It went up to 100% CPU usage (on a 2 CPU
machine), and the service couldn't even stop; I had to hit the OFF button on the
server.
During this time, IMail did everything it was supposed to, without fail. Our server
is probably about average sized, but in July IMail handled 100,000 E-mails (over 4
gigs worth), and the mail server crashed twice (once due to the backup software, the
other time due to WebShield SMTP).
As for support, which a few IMail people have complained about: The person at UUNET
was only able to say that everything appeared to be working fine, but was not at
liberty to admit that they had a serious network outage. What about
McAfee/NetworkAssociates WebShield SMTP? Last time I tried E-mailing them, it took 2
weeks to say that they don't support WebShield SMTP. This time, I tried finding a
phone number on their web site, but their web site was down again.
The moral of the story? Running a mail server isn't easy and isn't foolproof. Things
will go wrong. But, I must say, my experience with IMail has been quite good!
-Scott
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