Re: [exim] Immediate bounce after mail is received

On Fri, 10 Oct 2008, Jens Hoffrichter wrote:

> Generally speaking, it is of course better to keep at an actual release,
> but as so often, the need of having an uninterrupted system with as few
> downtimes as possible, is very big. And as an upgrade isn't done lightly
> (no matter how good the upgrade path of the software in question is), it
> is normally only done if there are real issues pressing an upgrade, or a
> general systems upgrade. But the latter one is seldomly done, the
> software remains old, if not ancient ;)

The longer you leave upgrading, the more difficult it becomes (Exim isn't
particularly prone to this however, rarely is an Exim upgrade not trivial
and backwardly compatible). The more time you leave between upgrades, the
more customers expect "perfect" service, and the more agitated they get
when it has to go down for some (presumably now essential) reason.

Agreeing regular maintenance windows with your customers (which do not
need to be used if there is no particular issue) as part of the SLA helps
to alleviate these issues.

Having a "very big need" to have "as few downtimes as possible" is a bad
situation to be backed in to. Mail services, in particular, are quite
easy to set up in a redundant way where service can be split across
devices allowing maintenance of each without disruption to the service as
a whole.

Jethro.

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Jethro R Binks
Computing Officer, IT Services
University Of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK