Dave Evans wrote:
> On Fri, Feb 29, 2008 at 10:50:43AM -0800, Marc Perkel wrote:
>
>> I just got a call from someone wanting to be able to send 50k email
>> messages a second. Most of it in bursts of a few seconds long.
>>
>> Thoughts?
>>
>
>
Good questions. And what I know comes from someone who is a colo company
that called me up for advice for their customer. So I'll tell you what I
understand.
> More details would be good:
>
> * When you say "send" 50k msg/sec, do you just mean that the sending app has
> to be able to hand off the messages to the MTA that quickly, or is there
> also some requirement as to how fast the MTA can then deliver the messages?
>
The MTA has to be able to receive 50k/second in bursts and get them out
as quick as possible. Probably not as fast as coming in but from what I
understand delivery speed is important.
> * Where are the messages going? Local delivery, bog-standard "via MX", pipe,
> something else?
>
It's coming from some sort of SQL server that they say can deliver it
that fast.
> * What's the budget?
>
It better be high. I assume they will pay what it takes to make it happen.
> * What are the reliability requirements?
>
I think that reliability isn't high. I asked that too and my thinking
was to put the queue in ram with the idea that if they lost some mail
it's not a big deal.
> * Is that 50k different messages, or 50k recipients but with <50k unique
> messages?
>
50k recipients. I think each message is unique. They are also very short
messages.
> * If remote delivery, how much bandwidth have you got?
>
They have several gigabit connections there. Plenty of bandwidth.
> * Where do the bounces go?
>
I don't know but I think they are not real concerned about bounces.