Hi Nancy -
I think that you have guessed correctly. Unlike mbx, mix consists of
multiple files and doesn't use random access I/O. So, if a hard quota
bites when rewriting the status file, the result can be that the update is
lost as was the original. Probably, all messages were unread and recent
which is basically the same as "no state set".
This happens in mbx and traditional UNIX on some operating systems too.
These systems won't let you do a disk write when you are out of quota even
if you are just overwriting a disk block that you already have. The
result in mbx is a corrupted mbx file.
I don't consider hard disk quotas to be a good means of controlling IMAP
usage. The operating systems are too unpredictable and sometimes it just
isn't possible to recover from a hard quota exception.
IMHO, a better mechanism is to use soft disk quotas, and then have
mechanisms such as suspending new mail delivery to a user who is over soft
quota, institute nagging, etc. Then use (much) higher hard quotas to
block denial-of-service attacks.
-- Mark --
http://panda.com/mrc
Democracy is two wolves and a sheep deciding what to eat for lunch.
Liberty is a well-armed sheep contesting the vote.
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