Intel and BlueArc Set New Mail Server Record

louismg writes "With e-mail traffic continuing to explode, Intel and BlueArc announced this morning that the two companies have set a new SPECmail benchmark record in cooperation with CommuniGate Pro, offering a solution that can serve 30 million messages per day - 67% ahead of the previous record, owned by Sun Microsystems. Rather than clustering a lot of smaller servers together, large ISPs can now use fewer systems to handle massive traffic load."

Comments

Redundant?

[Puls4r]

No, not the post.

Isn't part of the allure of smaller systems handling the specifically to get away from large dedicated systems that aren't nearly as reliable?

By now, google should have taught the world something - distributed computing with small cheap specced systems that can each be swapped with multiple redundancy is the way to offer both uptime, speed, and be cost effective.

It's nearly identical to the "lean" manufacturing techniques pioneered by the Japanese. Small cells that can increase or decrease output based on the amount of workers (systems) that are working that day. Very flexible.

After all, it's a COMPUTER.... do you really want it dedicated to just email, or can we use it for other tasks in the downtime.

Re:Redundant?

[Jeff DeMaagd]

Isn't part of the allure of smaller systems handling the specifically to get away from large dedicated systems that aren't nearly as reliable?

The allure of small systems is because of COST, not reliability. Large systems are and can be very reliable. Using consumer commodity computer parts by themselves is more likely to be less reliable, but if you set up failover clusters, then you get a cheaper overall system that is as reliable.

Doesn't this create SPF?

[Anonymous Coward]

Using massive systems for handling mail invites a single point of failure (SPF), whereas using clusters of smaller systems for the same amount of money gives failover capability.

Of course, ISPs won't realize this.