Stephen Bannasch <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I have a question for the group. How much work is it to install and > maintain a mailhost integrated with spam assassin for a company of > about 40 employees. We have experience with sendmail and linux.
Disclaimer: I'm writing about my personal experiences and estimates here, your mileage may vary! So please don't look at your IT guy in a funny way because he comes up with different figures, ok? ;-) > My IT guy gives the following estimate. He's comparing this with the > administrative cost for installing and running PureMessage. > > > Time estimates for an open source solution: > > 60+ hours to setup and test sendmail/anti-virus/RBL/ > > anti-spam software from source. Well, do you really need to setup "from source"? Depending on the Linux distribution you select, there are pre-built (and pre-tested) packages available for at least some of the software you're planning to run. BTW, I strongly suggest using Postfix <http://www.postfix.org/> instead of Sendmail for improved reliability and safety. I don't know about your specific requirements, but setting up a basic mail hub from scratch with Linux, Postfix, SpamAssassin and a virus scanner like AntiVir should take no more than 16 hours. I know for sure it can be done even faster than that. But of course, this depends on many factors like skill level (don't let an unexperienced person handle this important task), the virus scanner software, the amount of testing considered necessary, etc. > > 8 hours every month to verify that things are working > > and up to date > > 8 hours every month to upgrade software (sendmail/RBL/ > > virus/spam, all different) Maybe. SpamAssassin requires attention and updates due to the arms race between spammers and SA maintainers, but a decent virus checker will update itself automatically. Postfix has fewer vulnerabilities than Sendmail, so the update intervals for necessary security fixes can vary, too. > > 8 hours of down time every month while working > > and testing Eight hours downtime? For a Linux machine which gets 16 hours of attention and maintenance per month? Eight *minutes* downtime is more what I'd expect, and that only if the computer has to be rebooted for some reason. Yesterday, I routinely checked a customer's mail hub again which I, as "uptime" told me, set up 103 days ago. There has not been any downtime at all since this day. Linux is a quite reliable platform. -- Mit freundlichen Grüßen / Yours sincerely Dipl. Inform. Ralph Seichter HORUS-IT Ahornweg 10 D-57635 Oberirsen Tel +49 2686 987880 Fax +49 2686 987889 http://horus-it.de/ ------------------------------------------------------- This SF.Net email is sponsored by: INetU Attention Web Developers & Consultants: Become An INetU Hosting Partner. Refer Dedicated Servers. We Manage Them. You Get 10% Monthly Commission! INetU Dedicated Managed Hosting http://www.inetu.net/partner/index.php _______________________________________________ Spamassassin-talk mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/spamassassin-talk
