Few general questions regarding MailScanner

[Matt Kettler]

At 07:47 PM 2/25/2004, Jason Williams wrote:
>I want the ability to setup the mail server, know that the products will do
>their job and not have to worry about it.
>I'm still looking for a virus scanner, so if anyone has one they recommend,
>im all eyes. :)

AV recommendations:

         World-class, but with world-class price-tag: Sophos

         good bang-for-buck: F-prot  (for BSD mailservers about $800 for
100-200 user license, check their website for pricing)

         Costs nothing, but isn't perfect: Clam-av



>I'd just like to hear about the benefits and any drawbacks of mailscanner.
>Like I said, i've pretty much narrowed it down to mailscanner and mimedefang.

Mimedefang: sendmail only, milter level, efficient, can do SMTP layer
rejections.

MailScanner:
         very flexible
         "double queue" system probably less efficient in peak thruput, but
also allows heavy bursts of mail to come in without increasing the number
of scanners running at once.
         Cannot do SMTP layer rejections

Disclaimer: the following conclusion is my own, and isn't based on any real
testing. It's based on my understanding of the mechanisms and thinking
about both as queuing problems.

I suspect that MailScanner can handle more inbound emails/sec, making it
better at handling short-term spikes in email gracefully, but I suspect
mimedefang has a better "sustained" thruput, making it better for
heavy-load systems without big spikes in traffic.