Re: [exim] Exim has a bad queue handling?

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Author: Richard Clayton
Date:  
To: exim-users
Subject: Re: [exim] Exim has a bad queue handling?
In message <slrnejl6hk.93j.joerg@???>, Jörg Sommer
<joerg@???> writes

>on a private mailing list, someone raised the claim Exim has a bad queue
>handling


It is true that Exim copes very badly with large backlogs of yet to be
delivered email....

>and relies on delivering the mail in the first attempt.


Yes, it does assume that will be the general situation

>The
>discussion was about greylisting and "using" the queue of the remote site.


I think you need to understand that "large" in my first sentence (for a
reasonably sized machine) will be many tens (probably hundreds) of
thousands of messages.

If you're only shifting 10,000 messages a day, there won't be a problem.
If you are shifting millions then you need some sort of strategy to move
the undeliverables off to another machine... viz: if you're running a
large ISP having a single tier of machines, running Exim won't work :(

However, I doubt that you are in that position :)

>For Exim on the sender site, is greylisting a
>problem?


It doesn't help [either you are the legitimate sender] ... and the
risk that is being pointed out to you is that your incoming email will
go to the backup delivery service -- and will suffer considerable delay.

However, it would be a really dumb greylisting algorithm that held up
email from a major ISP more than once. As soon as the system retried
you should be giving them a free pass thereafter! If your system does
not do that then you may need to consider whitelisting any email sources
that you notice unusual delays from :(

- -- 
richard                                                   Richard Clayton


Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary
Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. Benjamin Franklin 11 Nov 1755