[Dovecot] How can we horizontally scale Dovecot across multiple servers?

Robert Schetterer robert at schetterer.org
Mon Oct 31 12:00:33 EET 2011


Am 31.10.2011 10:43, schrieb Arlin:
> Hi Robert,
> 
> Thanks for the reply. We are upgrading Dovecot to v2.0.15 and other
> component's to the latest version. In that case, can we use san for storage
> or are you recommending that drbd with ocfs2 is the best way to attain the
> horizontal scalability for the mail storage?

Hi Arlin, there is no best way, you should choose
whatever fits best to your needs an haves
so it depends on many stuff ( i.e at last finance, network, manpower,
knowledge) etc

So all i can say iam just using a loadbalanced cluster setup with drbd
ocfs2 maildir dovecot postfix mysql clamav spamassassin on ubuntu lucid
lts with 3000 Mailboxes without any big Problems yet
but i can imagine that a professional SAN might be better in performance
but there is a lot other other questions left , i.e maildir must not be
the best solution for mailbox format etc

cluster setups with lots of mailboxes are complex
in many ways, if you planning a real big mailservice
you should ask more here on this list for existing other setups and
choose i.e
Timo and/or others for professional and paid advice and work


> 
> Thanks, 
> Arlin
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: dovecot-bounces at dovecot.org [mailto:dovecot-bounces at dovecot.org] On
> Behalf Of Robert Schetterer
> Sent: 31 October 2011 14:26
> To: dovecot at dovecot.org
> Subject: Re: [Dovecot] How can we horizontally scale Dovecot across multiple
> servers?
> 
> Am 31.10.2011 09:47, schrieb Arlin:
>> Could anyone please respond to this query. Thank you!
> 
> you may use loadbalancers i.e (keepalived etc) and/or
> 
> http://wiki2.dovecot.org/FeatLoginProxy
> http://wiki2.dovecot.org/PasswordDatabase/ExtraFields/Proxy
> 
> look the list for cluster setups etc
> 
> reading your former post
> you want to use many outdated prog versions dont do that a san for storage
> might be a good choice some of the list use drbd with ocfs2 and other
> cluster filesystems
> 
>>
>>  
>>
>> From: Arlin [mailto:arlin at mvs.us]
>> Sent: 28 October 2011 17:06
>> To: 'dovecot at dovecot.org'
>> Subject: How can we horizontally scale Dovecot across multiple servers? 
>>
>>  
>>
>> Hi,
>>
>>  
>>
>> How can we horizontally scale Dovecot across multiple servers? Do we 
>> require to install independent instances of Dovecot on each server?
>>
>>  
>>
>> We are planning to use a NAS/SAN device using ZFS or EFS for email
> storage.
>> Each logical unit will be of 10TB and similarly as the no: of user 
>> increases we are planning to add multiple 10TB units.
>>
>> In this case how we can manage the email storage on multiple volumes 
>> from Dovecot.
>>
>>  
>>
>> The configuration of our existing system is:-
>>
>>  
>>
>> Dovecot 1.0.15 / Maildirs
>>
>> Postfix 2.5.5
>>
>> Debian 5.0.9 (Lenny)
>>
>> MySQL 5.0.15
>>
>>  
>>
>> Please advise.
>>
>>  
>>
>> Thanks in advance.
>>
>>  
>>
>> Creative Regards,
>>
>> Arlin
>>
>>  
>>
>>  
>>
>>  
>>
>>  
>>
>>  
>>
>>
> 
> 
> --
> Best Regards
> 
> MfG Robert Schetterer
> 
> Germany/Munich/Bavaria
> 


-- 
Best Regards

MfG Robert Schetterer

Germany/Munich/Bavaria


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