Re: [Exim] Split services exim / spamassasin / amavis

On Wed, 24 Mar 2004 16:34:54 +0000 Bruce wrote:

> If load is an issue, you would not want the scanning box to be the one
> taking incoming mail directly from the internet. If you did set it up
> that way and the scanning box became heavily loaded, it would start
> refusing incoming connections. Better to have the gateway box just
> receiving incoming mail. Then it can queue mail if the scanning box is
> too busy to accept connections. It's a more resilient set-up, less
> vulnerable to sudden surges in incoming mail.

True, but bear in mind that if you do it this way round, you lose the
ability to reject at SMTP time, and are thus in the unenviable position of
likely having known spam/viruses in your hands, which you can't reject
(because you've already accepted it) and can't (ethically) bounce (because
you'll spam innocent people), leaving you to either deliver it to a
"quarantine"-type mailbox (fine if that suits you) or discard it (less
than idea since it makes your mail system unreliable).


Tim