distributed mailing list? (Was Re: [SunRescue] Question...)

[Dan Debertin]

On Fri, 25 May 2001, Tugrul Galatali wrote:

> 	I actually agree with you, but some of the time. Its like one of those
> damn wireframe cubes :-)

It seems to be an idea that everyone enjoys a brief dalliance with.
There's a GUI email client which stores its mail in MySQL tables. I beat
my head against the desk every time I see it on freshmeat.

"Why, why, WHY??"

> I was looking at the IMAP4 spec a while ago, and it
> seemed god awfully rich, something that would be best left to a thin interface
> to a proven SQL server. I like the idea of reorganizing hundreds of messages
> into virtual mailboxes based on search criteria with a few SQL commands. I
> haven't used IMAP in a while (used to speak it fluently), so my ideas about
> it might have grown vague.

So ... the IMAP daemon is just a relay for SQL commands .... how strange
... I use IMAP, but haven't read the RFCs as much as you have. So I'll let
that one lie.

> 	Also, simplifies syncronization in a cluster on the mail server end,
> and get to take advantage of all sorts of fun stuff like replication :)

I know about replication (and I use it in production. Livin'
dangerously.... ;). That wasn't necessarily the failure point that I was
referring to; rather, it's the DBMS itself. If your tables become
currupted or data somehow becomes incoherent, and the corrupted/bad
tablespace is replicated to your slave, you're still screwed.

Not to mention the fact that your admins have to learn yet another
front-end (mysql>, SQL*Plus, whatever) just to look at and manipulate
data. I hear the sound of wheels being re-invented....

You want a pair of loadbalancers, at least two mailservers, and a NetApp
filer. Right tool for the job and all that.

But hey; it's your server. If you want to do it, go for it.

Dan
--
Dan Debertin
airboss at nodewarrior.org
www.nodewarrior.org