How exactly does mail relay work?

M

moleboy

Guppy
I've done a bunch of searching and reading on the forums but can't get a definitive answer to this question.

What I really want to find out is:

If a primary mail server goes down and the messages are 'relayed' to another server, can the stored messages be accessed via a webmail client e.g. Horde IMP or with a standard desktop email client? Assuming the mail server has a unique IP address then it shouldn't be a problem accessing the emails via any of the normal mail protocols.

The more I read, the more I think the backup 'mail server' is not an actual mail server, it's just storage that gets synced with the primary (only) mail server when it's brought back online.

Of course, I'm probably wrong with that assumption but I'd really appreciate a definitive answer that I can tell clients. As resellers, if we tell them that there's a backup email server then they surely have the right to ask us how it works.

MB
 
P.S. Still have no answer to my request QRU-91925-197 asking why I get the error "Internal Error, Tech Support Was Notified" when I try to activate mail relaying on one of my customers domains in H-Sphere. Has anyone got an answer for this?
 
As for the question about how it works, if the first MX record is down the second is attempted. The mail relay server ONLY stores this mail, when the primary mail comes back up it sends the mail through.
 
Stephen said:
The mail relay server ONLY stores this mail, when the primary mail comes back up it sends the mail through.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your reply. Is there a technical reason why the backed-up mail can't be accessed on the relay server via POP (naturally IMAP would be less than ideal in this situation :) )
 
Stephen said:
when the primary mail comes back up it sends the mail through.
Click to expand...

If the worst came to the worst and it took Jodohost 36-48 hours to either rebuild or install a replacement primary email server, am I correct in thinking that our clients would have to wait that long until they could receive their mail?

I'm not trying to be difficult, just getting a handle on how your setup works.

Cheers,
MB
 
MB,

We have had mail server crashes in the past and it never took this long even with MILLIONS of tiny files :)

However, the mail on the relay server is not in an accessible format to the users, it basically is another mail queue, and it continues to queue until the primary server is up.
 
If it's not possible to have direct access to the mail stored on a relay server, can the messages be copied to another email address whilst being sent to the relay server e.g. the reseller's sign-up address (which, for obvious reasons, should not be one associated with their hosting account) ?
 
Stephen said:
We have had mail server crashes in the past and it never took this long even with MILLIONS of tiny files :)
Click to expand...

That was a bit of devil's advocacy, but I hope you get the point

Stephen said:
However, the mail on the relay server is not in an accessible format to the users, it basically is another mail queue, and it continues to queue until the primary server is up.
Click to expand...

Is there a good technical reason why the messages can't be piped to a fully functional mail server to allow access via a static IP address?
 
Stephen said:
No, it doesn't work like that. :)
Click to expand...

Ah, but it would be SO much better if it did... can you make it so?

P.S. I'm on a dial-up connection which might explain the disjointed nature of my thoughts in relation to your quick replies :)
 
No, we really can't spend the time to make this happen, as it would change every hsphere update only to do it over again.(and I don't even know that it is possible in the first place)
 
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