Eric Dahnke wrote:
> Cris Daniluk escribi�:
>
> > Eric Dahnke wrote:
> >
> > > Hello List,
> > >
> > > We have a server moving about 9000 msgs per day and want to have a
> > > second qmail server waiting on our network to take over in the event of
> > > a failure.
> > >
> > > Our current thinking is:
> > >
> > > - an identical qmail installation on a backup machine
> > > - daily copy of /home /control and /alias to backup machine
> > > - in the event of a massive failure unplug the ethernet from the main
> > > server and plug into the backup machine.
> > >
> > > (I realize we will lose the queue --normally just full of waiting
> > > bounces-- and all msgs received for local users since the last backup)
> > >
> > > My question is, will there be any implications "Out_There" of suddenly
> > > having a new IP and hostname for our mailserver, assuming we make the
> > > appro DNS changes?
> > >
> > > Any other comments on this kind of idle machine waiting backup scheme?
> > > (the main mail server is dpt raid fived)
> > >
> > > cheers - eric
> >
> > Why don't you just set up your second server as an MX server and use the
> > handy dandy MX routing feature in named to automatically reroute mail in
> > the event of a failure. The MX server will hold all the messages while you
> > repair your server and automatically resend them when everything is back
> > online.
> >
> > This is probably the perfect solution for you, *especially* since you have
> > a raid 5. Don't be looking for a harddrive failure anytime soon :) Your
> > harddrives are the only irreplaceable components because they contain your
> > data, so anything else could be repairable in the time it takes you to
> > scrounge up the hardware.
>
> OK, I was thinking about something similar, but you've got me here. You say
> "The MX server will hold all the messages while you repair your server and
> automatically resend them when everything is back online."
>
> What do you mean by hold all the messages?
>
> Our mailserver does both smtp and pop, so therein lies the problem. Great, so
> the MX rolls and the backup server accepts smtp for our domains. But what
> about pop? When the primary server comes back up, users would need to pop both
> servers to get all their mail, and that would turn into a mess.
>
> Or am I not understanding.
>
> thx - eric
I think you are a bit confused as to what an MX really is. Your MX server, once
properly configured, will put the mail messages sent to users on your regular
server in a holding queue. Once this server is back online, the MX server will
jump in and send off these messages that it has been holding. There is no
POP involved on this server. As far as POP access on your other server, yes, it
IS down, but no messages will be lost. Once the server goes back up, the MX will
send off the mail and users will get all their messages. They'll never notice
anything happened, except for the annoying inconvenience of the server being down
for a while.
--
Cris Daniluk [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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