Re: [cobalt-developers] Replacing sendmail

[Jeff Lasman <jblists@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

zim wrote:

> Jeff excuse me, I feel like critizising you a little.

Okay, I can take it <smile>.

> You wrote about tuning sendmail:
> 
>  > I think it's perfectly fair for Cobalt
>  > to give me some numbers here.
>  > Can you?  I've already got a tech support
>  > call in for second level, and it's been a week.
>  > Can someone give me an answer here?
> 
> *I* think it's perfectly fair for Cobalt
> *not* to give you some numbers here.

So we agree to disagree <grin>?

> It's their job to provide a safe system,
> but your problem is in the area of tuning
> an application to your customer's need.

But just as a car manual might tell me I shouldn't drive the vehicle
over a certain speed (and yes, manuals often do say that), or under
certain conditions, I think it's fair for Cobalt to have an idea of how
many processes I may safely run on it.  Why?  Because they've changed
the kernel AND added their sauce, all of which adds load to the server.

> That's not the manufactor's job, that's
> *our* job, the job of a customer group.
> Because we are much more closer to our
> problems than they are.

Okay, then perhaps someone else on the list can tell me how high s/he's
safely raised the number without the system crashing.  I've already
pointed out that average load is generally under one, so we know from
where my base is.

> *I* think you just got a little angry, because
> you have suddenly been faced with problems
> in an area, where you had no expertise.

I really don't see any anger at all in my statements.  Perhaps you've
never seen me ANGRY <smile>?

> Or perhaps your customer is putting pressure
> on you, I don't know.

No, the customer is putting no pressure on me at all, except to pay
Cobalt to help us find answers.  I guess I find Cobalt's unwillingness
to even talk about taking his money a bit disconcerting.

> But what's the problem
> - nobody can know everything.

We agree on this point.

> Daddy Cobalt
> is the last I would think about to ask - let
> alone that I would press Cobalt for an answer.

I'm just asking for a safe load limit.  I still think that's a
reasonable question.  I've already asked the customer to take the list
off the RaQ; we can't keep testing as we can't keep sending out 40,000
emails over and over again.

> It's a sendmail problem, not a Cobalt one.

We've already determined the sendmail part of the problem, along with
some very good help from this and other lists, including Chuck Mead's
"mailhelp" list at Moon Group Consulting.  Chuck has been extremely
helpful.  He and others have been the reason we've gotten as far as we
have, and I thank everyone for that.

Now it's a question of what kind of load can the system handle, and yes,
I think Cobalt should be able to help me explore that.

Perhaps you just see my frustration.

Okay, I promise not to take this issue further on this list.

Jeff
-- 
Jeff Lasman <jblists@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
nobaloney.net
P. O. Box 52672
Riverside, CA  92517
voice: (909) 787-8589  *  fax: (909) 782-0205