--On 17 August 2009 10:37:58 +0100 Alain Williams <addw@???> wrote:
> On Mon, Aug 17, 2009 at 10:23:47AM +0100, Ian Eiloart wrote:
>>
>>
>> --On 14 August 2009 17:29:12 +0100 Ian Eiloart <iane@???> wrote:
>>
>> >
>> > Which is fine for MX servers. Not so good for MSA. MUAs (user clients)
>> > don't use MX records, and don't retry even if the smtp server address
>> > is a round robin in the DNS. At least, none of the servers that I've
>> > tried.
>> >
>>
>> Self-correction: I mean that none of the MUAs that I've tried will try
>> alternate SMTP servers, even if the DNS gives them several IP addresses
>> in a round robin.
>
> As I said: 127.0.0.1 is usually available, then rely on the local exim to
> get it right.
>
I'm kind of assuming that we're discussing the 99.9% of users that can't
possibly benefit from this advice because they don't have the technical
skills.
Apart from which, putting mail onto a local queue that doesn't get run for
a week is exactly the problem that I just described. All it takes is for
the local exim to get shut down with the host just before you go on
holiday. It's almost exactly equivalent to the MUA doing the queuing. We
switch that off by default on our local clients so that users are made
aware that their email hasn't been delivered.
--
Ian Eiloart
IT Services, University of Sussex
01273-873148 x3148
For new support requests, see
http://www.sussex.ac.uk/its/help/
