Len, Terry, all: Thanks. Here's the summary:
1) Gammadyne itself is the outbound MTA in my scenario. It's able to write result codes back to the db, which makes handling mail errors easier for me. While it does handle multiple outbound MTA's, I'm going for simplicity and that tight integration to the db. 2) The notion of separating the Imail box from the Gammadyne box is a great one. Wish I'd have thought of that. Duh. Even though I'm not fighting Imail's limitations handling outbound mail, it makes lots of sense. Deferals are handled as follows - a) try mailserver 5 times b) if mail is rejected, record failure code c) retry (i.e. go back to step a)) failed messages (failed are: no server connect, failure code less than 500) again on periodic basis (typically 10 times over 36 hour period) d) failures with failure code > 500 are written to db and not mailed again ever e) failures with no connects or failure code < 500 are tried again in the next newsletter run, for a total of 4 newsletters. If e-mail address fails 4 newsletter sends, it's gone. Suggestions on improvements for this are very much welcomed. 3) The Compaq server does have 32MB cache on the SCSI controller. Not as much as Len suggests, but it's something. I'm going with Compaq because all of the servers are Compaq, again simplifying my life. Same reason I'm sticking with MS. I'm dumb and need my life simple. Haven't had to deal with a *nix box since 1983. Too much power, too few brains. 4) I get the Compaq boxes refurbed, which does make them much more reasonable. Not cheap, though. 5) 15K drives sound like the way to go. 6) I use my hosting facility's DNS servers. Does it make sense to bring that service behind my firewall? I hate to do that, another box to learn about managing. 7) Oh, btw, it's more like 200 - 300K in one shot, once a week, with another 100K during the week. This list is the greatest thing since sliced bread. Thanks again to all. Rob ====================== Robert N. Grosshandler iGive.com PH 847.477.6968 FAX 312-896-9038 --- [This E-mail scanned for viruses by Declude Virus] To Unsubscribe: http://www.ipswitch.com/support/mailing-lists.html List Archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/imail_forum%40list.ipswitch.com/ Knowledge Base/FAQ: http://www.ipswitch.com/support/IMail/
