On Mon, Apr 01, 2002 at 09:18:40AM -0600, Christopher Crowley wrote:
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Randall Gellens" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: "Christopher Crowley" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "Subscribers of Qpopper"
> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Sent: Friday, March 29, 2002 1:40 PM
> Subject: Re: Feedback on configure options, please.
>
>
> > At 9:11 AM -0600 3/27/02, Christopher Crowley wrote:
> >
> > >Currently, the mail server has Qpopper 3.0.2 installed. I need to squeeze
> > >some additional performance from it. Is there anything else that you
> > >suggest? I don't think that I can use fast-updates because the mail
> spool
> > >is NFS mounted where users have shell access.
Enable server mode for all users who do not have shell access, whatever
is the most convenient way to do this. Server mode is at least
potentially unsafe for shell users whether or not fast-updates is
enabled.
Fast-updates can be used provided that the mail spool and the
temp-drop-dir are on the same file system (NFS or locally mounted.) If
server mode is not enabled, fast-updates is effectively a noop, so you
can turn it on. However, on the other hand, you get better disk I/O
bandwidth if the mail spool and the temp-drop-dir are on file systems
on separate drives. It's something of a toss-up; YMMV.
Some knowledgeable admins have suggested that the flag to disable
qpopper writing UIDLs back to the file is a performance benefit,
because it reduces disk I/O (at the cost of CPU) and most modern
systems are I/O bound not CPU bound. I haven't tried this out, because
when I make this change I think it means everyone who leaves mail on
our server would get it all downloaded again. (Then again, maybe
that's a *good* thing. Heh.)
> > >Lastly, are the cache files that are left in the temp-drop-dir cleaned up
> > >automatically by qpopper, or are they reused for each future login?
...
> > The cache files stay around and provide a significant optimization
> > for subsequent mail checks if no new mail arrived since the previous
> > login. That alone can really make a big difference in system load
> > (especially I/O).
> >
> > The Administrator's Guide for 4.x has a section on performance that
> > may be helpful.
Here are the options I used to build it on our server. The
"server-mode-shell-include" reference is a local patch which I can send
you on request.
./configure --enable-uw-kludge --with-warnings --enable-log-login \
--enable-keep-temp-drop --enable-shy \
--enable-temp-drop-dir=/var/mail/.poptemp \
--enable-nonauth-file=/usr/local/etc/pop.disable \
--enable-server-mode-shell-include=/usr/bin/false:/sbin/nologin:nologin:/usr/local/bin/no_shell
\
--enable-timing
# during testing only, add:
# --enable-debugging
--
Clifton Royston -- LavaNet Systems Architect -- [EMAIL PROTECTED]
"What do we need to make our world come alive?
What does it take to make us sing?
While we're waiting for the next one to arrive..." - Sisters of Mercy
