[PLUG] Re: Mail server options for OSX?

[Aaron Burt]

On Mon, Apr 25, 2005 at 10:08:34AM -0700, john morgali wrote:
> Sorry if I was too vague, and I may yet need to refine
> my question as this thread goes on. 
> 
> Well, we have several years worth of emails in it, and
> we are using it also as an email archive that we can
> browse.  Lately it seems to have noticably slowed down
> in its performance.  We cant seem to find any problems
> with it, other than it is just slow. 

Unless you've somehow hit a limit bug specific to Cyrus, different
mail server software probably won't make much of a difference.

Your best bet is to figure out what's causing the slowdown, and work
from there.  Time to hone your diagnostic skills.

First, figure out the scope of the problem.  Does it affect all users
equally or some specifically?  Is it slow for all operations or just
for e.g. sending mail?  If everyone uses the same mail client, what
happens when you try another one?  

Then, find a way to reproduce the problem.  You may already know how,
if mail is obviously slow for you.  

Characterize the problem: exactly how slow is it, does it happen every
time, does it happen only during the day when the server's busy, or is
it slow all the time?

Finally, observe the server, both during the workday and outside it.
Look at the output of 'top', say, while the problem is being
reproduced.  Look at the loadavg numbers, RAM and swap, and see how
they jump around as processes jump to the top of the list.  If you can
see the server, look at the disk drive light and see if it's on
steadily during some operations.

"Slow mail" can be a symptom of many problems from overload to DNS to
bad hardware.  But like most user-visible problems, it's just a symptom.