Infopackets Mail Server Update

Recall --

In mid December 2003, I mentioned that the infopackets web server was too stressed to continue delivering newsletter emails to Readers, and that an additional dedicated web server was needed.

Early last month, I ordered the new server and began programming it to do nothing more than process and send the email version of the infopackets newsletter. Unfortunately, this required quite a bit of work and technical expertise using an operating system that I'm not very familiar with (Unix).

Side note: The Unix operating system was developed by Bell Labs in the late 1960's. The main focus of Unix is to "let a number of programmers access the computer at the same time and share its resources." In techy terms, this is also referred to as multi-tasking. (Source: bell-labs.com)

As expected, a few bumps were felt along the way.

Unfortunately, I ran into some technical issues and was not able to complete the task of reconstructing the new server on my own. Realizing that the situation was beyond my control, I searched Google for some answers.

Thankfully, I came across a web site which provided some insight and presented a different solution to my dilemma. Before attempting to implement the project myself, I contacted the author of the web site (Nate Davis) and explained my circumstance.

To my surprise, Nate responded to my letter within minutes. And, after sending a few emails back and forth, Nate offered to speak with me on the phone so that we could work out a few more details. In the end, Nate reorganized the new infopackets mail server and implemented a high-speed email delivery solution, called a qmail toaster.

Although I was able to send only one newsletter last week due to a slight interruption, I am happy to announce that most of the 'bugs' have been worked out and the new infopackets mail server is now fully functional -- and I owe it all to Nate Davis.

Side note: qmail is an email delivery program designed to handle large e-mailing lists. The qmail toaster is a series of independent programs drawn together and is designed to simplify the management of qmail.