> To The List, > I am looking for what I consider to be a pretty complex solution to > network outages where our mail servers are kept. I have two separate > servers each at their own data center where one functions as the primary > mail server and the other functions as a secondary mx backup. > > What I would like to accomplish would be to have short TTL times on > specific A names in DNS, namely the names that are used be end users to > POP in and check their mail. If the primary server were to go down I > could simply change the A names in DNS on that secondary server and have > everyone only experience minor downtime, ~30 minutes. This would > obviously require mirrored vpopmail user accounts on that secondary mail > server, as well as updating of the mirror on a regular basis. > > I guess my question is: What files need to be backed up in > QMail/Vpopmail in order for this implementation to work? I would like > to backup just the data that will allow users to login to their > accounts, actual e-mails do not need to be backed up...I must also state > that both vpopmail installations will be running a MySQL backend which > will need to be updated as well...I already have a script for the MySQL > part, I am just wondering which files need to be backed up as well..... > > Any suggestions or comments are appreciated. I also wanted to thank > Bill for his time and energy on the best toaster out their!
My suggestion is not to attempt to duplicate mail systems over 2 data centers. Having a backup MX at another datacenter is fine, as only the domain information needs to be replicated. But if you want to keep user information and mail replicated, that's just not very practical. If uptime is really important, I recommend going with a datacenter that has multiple backbone providers, and is connected to multiple power grids. There, you could setup redundant servers with NFS, MySQL, etc... Bill
