sendmail Performance Tuning [Paperback]

Nick Christenson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 12, 2002

As e-mail traffic continues to increase, system administrators must be able to guarantee that their e-mail servers can deliver reliable performance today and bear larger loads tomorrow. sendmail Performance Tuning is a handbook for building, tuning, and testing e-mail servers using sendmail to function more efficiently, handle more messages, and resist both accidental and malicious load-related incidents. This practical guide begins with an introduction to sendmail and performance tuning. Author Nick Christenson describes best practices for building, installing, and maintaining a system and then details proven techniques for tuning e-mail relaying, reception, and sending. His strategic guide to configuration and security is followed by precise directions for managing bottlenecks and load testing. By the book's end, readers know exactly how to optimize system performance.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

"This book is great. Nick covers a wide range of materials--everything from how to architect the mail system and what disks to buy to how to configure your router. This book should be a basic reference for anyone who needs to get down into the guts of a sendmail-based system and make it shine."

--Eric Allman, the creator of sendmail and Chief Technical Officer, Sendmail, Inc.

As email traffic continues to increase, system administrators must be able to guarantee that their email servers can deliver reliable performance today and bear larger loads tomorrow. sendmail Performance Tuning is a practical guide to building, tuning, and testing email servers based on sendmail to function more efficiently, handle more messages, and resist both accidental and malicious load-related incidents.

Featuring sendmail 8.12 (and earlier versions), the book begins with an introduction to sendmail and performance tuning. Author Nick Christenson then describes best practices for building, installing, and maintaining a system and details proven techniques for tuning email relaying, reception, and sending. This strategic guide to configuration and security is followed by precise directions for managing bottlenecks and load testing. By the book's end, readers should know exactly how to optimize system performance.

Key topic coverage includes:

• A detailed description of the step-by-step operations that occur during email transmission and reception
• How to send and store email most efficiently
• What the performance characteristics of POP and IMAP are
• How to determine which sendmail configuration parameters might improve performance
• How to locate and eliminate bottlenecks
• Methods and pitfalls in testing email servers before they are installed in a production environment

Whether you are looking to solve an immediate problem or gain a deeper understanding of email servers, sendmail Performance Tuning provides clear guidance and valuable insight.

0321115708B08232002

About the Author

Nick Christenson designed and implemented Internet systems, including email, for EarthLink Network, Inc., during its period of rapid growth. He also worked for Sendmail, Inc., as a senior software engineer and senior technical consultant. Nick is currently a senior analyst for Sistina Software. He has given talks at the USENIX Symposium on Internet Technologies and Systems and at the O'Reilly Open Source Conference. He has written articles for ;login:, the Erlang/OTP User Conference, and USENIX LISA.

0321115708AB08232002

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Pearson Education; 1st edition (September 12, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0321115708
• ISBN-13: 978-0321115706
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,055,355 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unexpected pleasure, September 24, 2002

By 

Anthony Lawrence "Unix, Linux and Mac OS X" (Middleboro, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: sendmail Performance Tuning (Paperback)

When I first picked this up I really didn't expect much. I expected that this would be a rather ordinary rehash of typical performance tuning advice. How much could you possibly have to say about sendmail specifically?

Boy, was I wrong. Nick Christensen has a lot to say about tuning mail systems. The attention to detail here is simply wonderful, and his clear writing style makes it enjoyable too.

You can learn a lot about sendmail here, but you'll also gain a deeper understanding of how complicated performance tuning really is; how seemingly unrelated factors can really affect performance. Nick covers it all- nothing left out, nothing glossed over.

If you are interested in sendmail, you'll want this book. If you are running any other Unix mail system you still will want it because much of the advice and discussion is relevant to other systems. In fact, f you are just interested in performance tuning on any system, this is a worthwhile read.

Eric Allman (the original author of sendmail) says "This book is great". Eric is wrong. This is much better than that. This is an impressive work, and I've enjoyed it thoroughly.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Terrific value for money, December 23, 2002

By 

Peter J. Scott (the Pacific NorthWest) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: sendmail Performance Tuning (Paperback)

Nick Christenson delivers exactly what the title promises, all the way through this book. Every paragraph is completely on topic and packed with the sort of information that would be hard or impossible to find anywhere else. Furthermore, you know that unlike something scrounged off Usenet, you can trust this information thanks to Nick's considerable experience in the field, which he shares frequently.

I'd say this book provides a major strategic advantage to anyone whose business depends upon e-mail performance.

5 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An unexpected pleasure, September 24, 2002

By 

Anthony Lawrence "Unix, Linux and Mac OS X" (Middleboro, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: sendmail Performance Tuning (Paperback)

When I first picked this up I really didn't expect much. I expected that this would be a rather ordinary rehash of typical performance tuning advice. How much could you possibly have to say about sendmail specifically?

Boy, was I wrong. Nick Christensen has a lot to say about tuning mail systems. The attention to detail here is simply wonderful, and his clear writing style makes it enjoyable too.

You can learn a lot about sendmail here, but you'll also gain a deeper understanding of how complicated performance tuning really is; how seemingly unrelated factors can really affect performance. Nick covers it all- nothing left out, nothing glossed over.

If you are interested in sendmail, you'll want this book. If you are running any other Unix mail system you still will want it because much of the advice and discussion is relevant to other systems. In fact, f you are just interested in performance tuning on any system, this is a worthwhile read.

Eric Allman (the original author of sendmail) says "This book is great". Eric is wrong. This is much better than that. This is an impressive work, and I've enjoyed it thoroughly.