Re: [Fed-Talk] Sizing Mini Server for email
Re: [Fed-Talk] Sizing Mini Server for email
- Subject: Re: [Fed-Talk] Sizing Mini Server for email
- From: "Nichols, Jared - 1160 - MITLL" <email@hidden>
- Date: Fri, 18 Dec 2009 09:03:29 -0500
- Acceptlanguage: en-US
- Thread-topic: [Fed-Talk] Sizing Mini Server for email
Title: Re: [Fed-Talk] Sizing Mini Server for email
The thing I’d worry about with the Mini server is not computational load as I’m sure it could handled hundreds of email accounts without much of a problem – the tech specs look like it could handle it (though perhaps I’d like more than 4GB of RAM).
What I’d really worry about is redundancy. There’s only 1 NIC, so you can’t bond them for interface redundancy and there’s only 1 power supply. Also, the drive setup is not ideal for reliability-required situations. Only two drives means that you’re doing a RAID 1 if you’re looking for redundancy. And, in that case, if one drive fails, you’ve still got downtime because you need to crack the case open to replace the drive. In that case, I’d worry about computational power – rebuilding the RAID array while trying to keep email service up and speedy may be a bit taxing.
What the real server-class hardware gets you (independent of Mac vs Windows) is hardware redundancy and the ability to hot-swap components. While the price of the Mini is extremely attractive, for something as critical as email in an office where that downtime isn’t acceptable (if it is, by all means get one) I wouldn’t go for it.
Don’t let the price blind you to the serviceability and reliability requirements :)
j
On 12/17/09 6:00 PM, "David Emery" <email@hidden> wrote:
Has anyone seen any numbers/projections/rules-of-thumb for how many
email users a Mac Mini Server whose primary duty is email server (POP,
IMAP, SMPT) will handle? I'm interested in computational load, not disk
space... What motivated this was an exchange with a corporate IT
person. "We're investing in Exchange upgrades." "Yeah, but I bet
you're spending a lot more than the $1k for a Mini Server..." The fair
question is whether a Mini Server would handle the load.
dave
--
David Emery, DSCI, supporting PdM SW Integration, PM NSI
703 298 3473 (office/cell), 703 272 7496 (fax)
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Jared F. Nichols
Desktop Engineer, Infrastructure and Operations
Information Services Department
MIT Lincoln Laboratory
244 Wood Street
Lexington, Massachusetts 02420
781.981.5436
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