Skipping queue run -- load average too high

Harry Hanson harryh at CET.COM
Thu Dec 11 10:36:12 GMT 2003


> hmm seems to be page faulting quite a bit, which is unusual
> for something relatively high CPU/memory wise.
>
> what checks have you got on SA and MS? Esp what checks are
> running for RBL's and pyzor?

During that time SA was disabled.

Most MS settings are default, as I felt it best to ask for advice from this
list before making any changes.

RBL's are not being used via mailscanner; they are rejected by sendmail, so
those that are listed don't even make it thru MA for processing.

> sendmail is saying the machine is too busy to process mail,
> hence the log messages..
>
> you say you've got the disk configured as RAID 0 (striping),
> is this hardware or software RAID (vinum?).

It is hardware raid.

> have you turned on softupdates on the filesystem containing
> the spool files - this can make alot of difference as regards I/O.

I am unfamiliar with this.. How would I check?

> How have you split up the filesystems? single / or /, /usr,
> /home and /var?

Yes, /var is on different physical drives.

> Just wondering why you choose FreeBSD 5.1 as this is still
> considered 'unstable'? The current 'stable' release is 4.9.
> But my tests seem to indicate 5.x tree is much faster than 4.8...

Honeslty, this was not my choice, but I figured since it was already there,
and most of what I read indicated it's quite stable, I decided to stick with
it and check it out.

> I run FreeBSD 4.8 with Exim 4.24 and MS 4.24 (no RBL's/pyzor)
> using Sophos-Savi and ClamAV with Mailwatch and the mysql DB
> all on the same machine - celeron 600mhz, single ATA1-100
> disk and a single / partition.
> runs 9,000 messages a day without breaking above 1.5 on load average.

load averages:  0.28,  0.27,  0.23

Yes, this seems unusual, which is why I am deferring to the mailing list
members hoping someone has some useful insight :)

> --
> Martin Hepworth
> Snr Systems Administrator
> Solid State Logic
> Tel: +44 (0)1865 842300
>
>
> **********************************************************************
>
> This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and
> intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they
> are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify
> the system manager.
>
> This footnote confirms that this email message has been swept
> for the presence of computer viruses and is believed to be clean.
>
> **********************************************************************
>



More information about the MailScanner mailing list