Change Mail Storage location on Server?

Question asked by Steve Guluk - 8/17/2017 at 10:10 AM

Unanswered

Hello,

Are we able to take an existing installed configuration of SmarterMail (15.4 Enterprise) and store emails in multiple locations?

For instance, my server has the code SmarterMail application installed on the C Drive as well as the Domains directory.

But we have other Drives on this server that could more effectively handle the actual email files. HOw to redirect without migrating all, reconfiguring and then restarting SmarterMail?

Can we direct one Domain at a time to point to a different drive other than where the application is installed?

How have people handled the IMAP usage that keeps emails on their server over the prior POP methods where clients downloaded to a local computer and then erased from the server? It's getting to be a real problem and migration to a CDN just seems to add more costs to an already less than profitable equasion.

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echoDreamz Replied

8/17/2017 at 3:02 PM

In the domainList.xml file, you can change the directory for the domains or you can also use the SmarterMail web interface and edit the domain.

In the past when we did this, we shut down the server, moved email where it needed to go and updated the required domains in the domainList.xml file.

An entry like...

<Domain name="somedomain.com" directory="D:\something\somedomain.com" />

You can simply change the directory to where you would like. Once done, save it, start SM. Just make sure you've put all the domain's email / folders where they should be as indicated by the XML file before starting SM.

Steve Guluk Replied

8/17/2017 at 3:13 PM

Yes, update domainList.xml then restart Service...
It does not work though I understand it should.

I'm working with Tech Support but the issue found is that the Admin account for the Domain goes missing and the User accounts are no longer bound to the Domain.

Trying to figure out the problem and will post details to help others if I find the solution.

Steve Guluk Replied

8/17/2017 at 4:48 PM

Here are the required steps as provided by Kyle Kerst (SmarterTools Tech Support)

1. Choose domain to migrate.

2. Copy this domain's data, which by default is found under C:\SmarterMail\Domains\domainName, to the new hard drive.

3. When the data completes copying, stop the SmarterMail service.

4. Update the domainlist.xml to point to the new location for this domain.

5. Start the SmarterMail service.

The order is important (change to xml while service is stopped)...

echoDreamz Replied

8/17/2017 at 5:23 PM

Strange, we've never had to edit while the service was running. In fact, I've always stopped it before editing this file. Strange! Glad you got it working!

Paul Blank Replied

11/8/2017 at 7:38 PM

I think that's just what Steve said; edit the .xml file while the service is stopped. Alternatively, of course, you can probably make a copy of the file, edit that file, and replace the original with it after the service is stopped. And then restart.

BTW AFAIK you'll want to stop/restart the SmarterMail Windows service, not the services within the SM UI.

leurys castillo Replied

12/16/2017 at 7:43 AM

could this work in at NAS Server ?

Paul Blank Replied

12/16/2017 at 8:48 AM

If the NAS volume is mapped as a Windows drive, it should work. But I haven't tried it. I use local drives only for email storage and SM archiving.

I do use network drives for backups.

echoDreamz Replied

12/16/2017 at 12:20 PM

There is no reason it would not work. Though I would make sure the drive is mounted BEFORE SmarterMail tries to start. In the past we used a iSCSI target for SM data storage, it worked fine.

Paul Blank Replied

12/16/2017 at 12:51 PM

That is a good point. And make sure your connection to that NAS device is solid, both from an electrical and networking point of view.

echoDreamz Replied

12/16/2017 at 1:01 PM

Yep, we had a minor "hiccup" one day with infiniband switch and SmarterMail nearly immediately crashed.

Paul Blank Replied

12/16/2017 at 1:11 PM

echoD, that is one of the things I would worry about, when using non-local drives. Of course stuff can go wrong with those too, but it's nice to eliminate those variables if possible. Disk space is so cheap these days; my general feeling is that if you need more room in your server for drives or ports, do the expansion.

echoDreamz Replied

12/16/2017 at 1:21 PM

Yeah, we needed very large storage, and of course with this massive size comes massive backup requirements. Our primary SM storage is 20TB.

We now use a local storage array through externally daisy chained supermicro storage nodes.

echoDreamz Replied

12/16/2017 at 1:24 PM

We just need NVMe to hurry and become affordable :), then we can get into Supermicro Simply Double NVMe storage arrays.

Paul Blank Replied

12/16/2017 at 2:25 PM

OK that's a LOT of disk space.

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