Re: [exim] [Off topic] Replicated mail storage system

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Author: Renaud Allard
Date:  
To: Nigel Metheringham, exim-users
New-Topics: Re: [exim] [Off topic] Replicated mail storage system - unison
Subject: Re: [exim] [Off topic] Replicated mail storage system
Hello Nigel,

On Mon, 27 Apr 2009 15:32:49 +0100 Nigel Metheringham
<nigel.metheringham@???> wrote

> I'd appreciate a few pointers towards mechanisms/packages/ideas for
> doing this to ensure I don't miss any possibilities.
>
> We have a requirement for a mail server (SMTP receive, POP collection,
> IMAP not currently required) with a presence in 2 data centres, and
> able to maintain operation if either data centre or the link between
> them is unavailable. The ability to reconnect disjointed data centres
> without data loss (we could tolerate some resurrection of deleted
> messages) would be needed. There would be a huge number of
> mailboxes, but low activity on each mailbox - aggregate activity is
> not that high.
>
> Any ideas or suggestions?
>


I used to have this kind of system working using unison
(http://www.cis.upenn.edu/~bcpierce/unison/) for the two way replication.
Assuming the messages don't change once they are written to disk, you can
configure unison with a good performance. I would suggest you to take the latest
development version of unison as it has some improvements on how conflicts can
be solved if they occur.
You will of course need to use a Maildir storage for this to work.