Server capacity estimates?

[David Lancaster]

Hey all,

Are there any sources of information about what server capacity is needed
to handle various loads from mailscanner and spam assassin?

We're currently looking at handling 3500-4500 (incoming only)mail per
hour, using mailscanner and SA, with virus checks disabled, and rbl
enabled in mailscanner.  The server will act as a gateway, passing the
messages off to another server for actual delivery.
What sort of capability would a single server (Intel/Linux) need?  IO and
CPU seem to be the bottlenecks on my test server, would a single 1.4 Ghz
P3 and a software-mirrored 15K Ultra160 disk be capable of handling this
throughput? Would dual CPUs increase performance to any marked degree?

Thanks for the great work and info all!

Cheers,
D.



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David Lancaster
ITS ESS