Low Server Specification and Multiple Domain Query

[sebpayne]

Hi Everyone

I'm doing a Zimbra Open Source Edition installation which is going to be for around 30 users to start with but then up to ~200 in September if everything goes well! The box we have is a 1.5Ghz Pentium III, 512mb RAM, 40gb HDD with Ubuntu 6.06. It seems to be running fine but *if* I can get the funds, I am hoping to up the RAM to 2gb which sound make things a bit smoother. Would this be the best thing to do? Also, are there any tips for running it on such a low powered machine?

Secondly, I am trying to get my head around domains. We have our main domain (Purple Radio - Durham Student Radio) where the majority of emails will come through but we also have some older ones (like purple.dur.ac.uk and purple.dsu.org.uk). How do I set Zimbra to work with this but just to accept mail and deliver them to the same mailbox on purpleradio.co.uk? I've seen a reference to 'domain alias' - is this what I am after?

This project is for Purple Radio - the student radio station at the University of Durham. We are planning on having a centralised system so all members, DJs and alumni can stay in touch better. We have very little or no money so are making do with what we can. So far, everyone loves Zimbra and are excited by the possibilities.

[phoenix]

I'd suggest you increase the RAM as it may cause you problems, depending on the mail usage you might want to install a second HD and mount /opt on that. There are tipe for reducing memory usage but you also lose functionality if you do that, there's an article in the wiki on reducing memory usage: Performance Tuning - Zimbra :: Wiki Please note that we do not recommend running in a low RAM machine and, of course, YMMV.

[mmorse]

For your other question:
-Point the mx records for all your domains at your zimbra box.
-You can create the other 2 domains & set an alias on each account OR use the methods described in ManagingDomains - Zimbra :: Wiki

[dspillett]

Originally Posted by phoenix

I'd suggest you increase the RAM

I would second that. I have a small Zimbra server that is used only by myself an a couple of associates - the VM is runs on has 768Mb allocated and it uses some swap space. Performance is fine for us, but with 30 active users and only 512Mb RAM you might find it not so.

When I finally get around to installing Zimbra 5.x on a new VM it'll be given 1Gb, as there is spare memory on the host at the moment.

RAM is cheap, price/performance wise, compared to any other upgrade you could do to that machine.

[dwmtractor]

Seriously consider your options for going to a full 2GB of RAM if you can--at least here the difference between 1GB and 2GB is not more than fifty bucks or so, and it'll buy you a whole lot more than fifty bucks' worth of satisfaction! While plenty of people are running Zimbra on less, 2GB seems to be a sweet spot at which even very small installations (and I mean small like test beds of a couple of users) start running MUCH faster and more smoothly.

Cheers,

Dan

[Bill Brock]

Agreed. During heavy usage with 150 users, it's not uncommon for my machine to use 1.6 GB's. This is the most I've seen. And with 2Gb of RAM, Linux has to do no swapping.

2GB's is definitely the sweet spot for servers with a modest amount of users.