Preference for batch sizes

[Jeff A. Earickson]

Hi,
There was a whole thread on this a few months back, and one thing Julian
did was lower the default batch size from 100 to 30 as a result.  Sounds
like you are running an old version of MS.  If you are running a current
version, drop the batch size to 30, maybe look at lowering "Max Normal
Queue Size" (default is 1000, mine is 500 and I have a big powerful box),
and tweaking the number of children.  Tell us what version, and what your
box is...

If you have some particular spamsite out there pounding you, block them
with your MTA, eg sendmail access.db.

Jeff Earickson
Colby College

On Thu, 12 Feb 2004, Stephe Campbell wrote:

> Date: Thu, 12 Feb 2004 10:17:19 -0500
> From: Stephe Campbell <campbell at CNPAPERS.COM>
> Reply-To: MailScanner mailing list <MAILSCANNER at JISCMAIL.AC.UK>
> To: MAILSCANNER at JISCMAIL.AC.UK
> Subject: Preference for batch sizes
>
> We are seeing a real slow down in mail delivery here since yesterday. We are
> receiving about 50% more mail, but our system can't seem to keep up. Our
> normal mail count is probably about 35K-50K a day. Spam percentage is about
> 85-90%.
>
> I have noticed the last two days a high rate of mail in incoming beginning
> around 10pm until midnight. When I look at my average load, it seems to be
> dropping linearly from 3 down to .6 or something like that. (Can servers get
> tired and need a rest?). Large incoming batches were always handled fairly
> quickly before this period, and I'm not sure if we're just slow or are
> receiving a lot of new mail, but based on complaints, mail is slow.
>
> I have two questions:
>
> Would smaller batches of mail be better? I have this set to 100 normally,
> and am testing 50 at the moment. I am guessing that smaller batch sizes may
> take less time to process and get them through faster as a batch, but
> overall processing of total email may be the same or slightly slower.
>
> I have Max Children set to 5. Top shows 8-9 MailScanners running. Is this a
> problem or could it be multiple parents/children. This machine is pretty
> much maxed out when this happens. Maybe lower the Max Children, or increase
> the Queue Scan Interval from 5?
>
> Any help and suggestions would be appreciated.
>
> Thanks.
>
>
> Steve Campbell
> campbell at cnpapers.com
> Charleston Newspapers
>