Desperately trying to debug poor spam scanning performance

[Glenn Steen]

2008/9/16 Ben Tisdall <ben.tisdall at photobox.com>:
> Steve Freegard wrote:
>
(snip)
>>
>> 4)  Have you mounted /var/spool/MailScanner/incoming on tmpfs?
>
> On this box not really an option, can't upgrade the RAM beyond 2G & it
> has to perform duties other than MS :(
>
> I'm strongly tending towards the theory that I/O is crappy on this box.
> I read something not very complimentary about the smart array 5/i on
> Linux & certainly the bonnie++ results are worse than those for my home
> box (2 x 15K SCSI on the test box, 2 x 7.2K SATA at home).

Sorry for not noticing this earlier:/.
Smart 5i with write memory cache "addon" is "somewhat OK", the default
el cheapo 5i you find onboard is usually not worth using. They will
suck eggs through straws, when it comes to write performance.
Get a real RAID card, not the memory thing... better value for money.
Smarts are generally OK, so long as you stay away from the really
_too_ cheap thingies:-).

> In all likelihood I'll now be given a new box for MS with enough RAM to
> do incoming on tmpfs :)

New box == better RAID controller;-).
My latest is a HP DL360G5 ... Actually with a very basic setup (==low
price). Good value for money AFAICS. The E200i seems to perform OK:-).

> Thanks for your suggestions Steve.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Ben.
>

Cheers
-- 
-- Glenn
email: glenn < dot > steen < at > gmail < dot > com
work: glenn < dot > steen < at > ap1 < dot > se