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SmarterMail hosted on AWS, Windows Server 2022
Question asked by Nageswara Rao Anumolu - 9/23/2024 at 4:25 AM
Unanswered
Is there anyone that hosted SmarterMail on AWS ? If so what is your configuration ?

I am running on r7i.16xLarge, 2*16tb (32tb) gp3 storage, windows deduplication enabled. 
Hosted 47 domains and 20k mail boxes. I am facing occasional settings.json file deletions and slow response/freeze while creating a new user in one of major domain (15000 users). 

Have you ever faced any bottlenecks with disks/network/cpu ?

17 Replies

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Kyle Kerst Replied
Employee Post
Hello and good morning :-) I believe this behavior is likely related to the same cause I noted on your other post. Once that is resolved this behavior should clear up as well. 
Kyle Kerst IT Coordinator SmarterTools Inc. www.smartertools.com
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Upgraded the disk to gp2 but still facing the same slowness. We didn't have this problem with 8930. 

Is there any recommendations ?
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Stick with 8930...
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We had a problem with build 8930. User inbox and compose mail windows are very slow in this build. The problem is resolved in newer builds.

We are having a problem of accounts.json getting deleted while doing user creation/modification which is introduced in newer builds.
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Yeah I know but rather settle for slowness than notworkingness.....
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Reverted to 8930.
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[2024.09.02] 16:44:28.436 [FileFunctions] File "d:/SmarterMail/Domains/meghaeng.com/accounts.json" missing. Found TMP file "d:/SmarterMail/Domains/meghaeng.com/accounts.json.tmp". Copying temp file.
[2024.09.02] 16:44:28.437 [FileFunctions] Exception copying TMP file - SmarterMail.Standard.Files.Exceptions.SMNotFoundException: Could not find file 'd:\SmarterMail\Domains\meghaeng.com\accounts.json.tmp'.
[2024.09.02]  ---> System.IO.FileNotFoundException: Could not find file 'd:\SmarterMail\Domains\meghaeng.com\accounts.json.tmp'.
[2024.09.02] File name: 'd:\SmarterMail\Domains\meghaeng.com\accounts.json.tmp'
[2024.09.09] 11:02:32.400 [FileFunctions] File "d:/SmarterMail/Domains/meghaeng.com/accounts.json" missing. Found TMP file "d:/SmarterMail/Domains/meghaeng.com/accounts.json.tmp". Copying temp file.
[2024.09.09] 11:02:32.401 [FileFunctions] Exception copying TMP file - SmarterMail.Standard.Files.Exceptions.SMNotFoundException: The process cannot access the file 'd:\SmarterMail\Domains\meghaeng.com\accounts.json.tmp' because it is being used by another process.
[2024.09.09]  ---> System.IO.IOException: The process cannot access the file 'd:\SmarterMail\Domains\meghaeng.com\accounts.json.tmp' because it is being used by another process.
[2024.09.11] 10:53:25.552 [FileFunctions] File "d:/SmarterMail/Domains/meghaeng.com/accounts.json" missing. Found TMP file "d:/SmarterMail/Domains/meghaeng.com/accounts.json.tmp". Copying temp file.
[2024.09.11] 10:53:25.553 [FileFunctions] Exception copying TMP file - SmarterMail.Standard.Files.Exceptions.SMNotFoundException: Could not find file 'd:\SmarterMail\Domains\meghaeng.com\accounts.json.tmp'.
[2024.09.11]  ---> System.IO.FileNotFoundException: Could not find file 'd:\SmarterMail\Domains\meghaeng.com\accounts.json.tmp'.
[2024.09.11] File name: 'd:\SmarterMail\Domains\meghaeng.com\accounts.json.tmp'
[2024.09.23] 12:32:04.632 [FileFunctions] File "d:/SmarterMail/Domains/meghaeng.com/accounts.json" missing. Found TMP file "d:/SmarterMail/Domains/meghaeng.com/accounts.json.tmp". Copying temp file.
[2024.09.23] 12:32:04.634 [FileFunctions] Exception copying TMP file - SmarterMail.Standard.Files.Exceptions.SMNotFoundException: Could not find file 'd:\SmarterMail\Domains\meghaeng.com\accounts.json.tmp'.
[2024.09.23]  ---> System.IO.FileNotFoundException: Could not find file 'd:\SmarterMail\Domains\meghaeng.com\accounts.json.tmp'.
[2024.09.23] File name: 'd:\SmarterMail\Domains\meghaeng.com\accounts.json.tmp'
[2024.09.24] 14:27:56.018 [FileFunctions] File "d:/SmarterMail/Domains/meghaeng.com/accounts.json" missing. Found TMP file "d:/SmarterMail/Domains/meghaeng.com/accounts.json.tmp". Copying temp file.
[2024.09.24] 14:27:56.019 [FileFunctions] Exception copying TMP file - SmarterMail.Standard.Files.Exceptions.SMNotFoundException: Could not find file 'd:\SmarterMail\Domains\meghaeng.com\accounts.json.tmp'.
[2024.09.24]  ---> System.IO.FileNotFoundException: Could not find file 'd:\SmarterMail\Domains\meghaeng.com\accounts.json.tmp'.
[2024.09.24] File name: 'd:\SmarterMail\Domains\meghaeng.com\accounts.json.tmp'
[2024.09.24] 17:01:18.829 [FOLDER SHARING SERVICE] The process cannot access the file 'd:\SmarterMail\Domains\meghaeng.com\accounts.json' because it is being used by another process.
[2024.09.24] [FOLDER SHARING SERVICE] The process cannot access the file 'd:\SmarterMail\Domains\meghaeng.com\accounts.json' because it is being used by another process.    at SmarterMail.Standard.Files.FileX.ReadAllBytes(String path)
[2024.09.24] 17:03:42.798 [FOLDER SHARING SERVICE] The process cannot access the file 'd:\SmarterMail\Domains\meghaeng.com\accounts.json' because it is being used by another process.
[2024.09.24] [FileFunctions] File "d:/SmarterMail/Domains/meghaeng.com/accounts.json" missing. Found TMP file "d:/SmarterMail/Domains/meghaeng.com/accounts.json.tmp". Copying temp file. 17:03:42.800
[2024.09.24] [FileFunctions] Exception copying TMP file - SmarterMail.Standard.Files.Exceptions.SMNotFoundException: Could not find file 'd:\SmarterMail\Domains\meghaeng.com\accounts.json.tmp'.
[2024.09.24]  ---> System.IO.FileNotFoundException: Could not find file 'd:\SmarterMail\Domains\meghaeng.com\accounts.json.tmp'.
[2024.09.24] File name: 'd:\SmarterMail\Domains\meghaeng.com\accounts.json.tmp'
[2024.09.25] 14:33:23.135 [FileFunctions] File "d:/SmarterMail/Domains/meghaeng.com/accounts.json" missing. Found TMP file "d:/SmarterMail/Domains/meghaeng.com/accounts.json.tmp". Copying temp file.
[2024.09.25] 14:33:23.135 [FileFunctions] Exception copying TMP file - SmarterMail.Standard.Files.Exceptions.SMNotFoundException: The process cannot access the file 'd:\SmarterMail\Domains\meghaeng.com\accounts.json.tmp' because it is being used by another process.
[2024.09.25]  ---> System.IO.IOException: The process cannot access the file 'd:\SmarterMail\Domains\meghaeng.com\accounts.json.tmp' because it is being used by another process.

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In version 8930, opening of mail box takes minutes for every user in a domain with 15000 users.
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Webmail or outlook MAPI?
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Webmail
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We dont have that problem here but the userbase is significantly smaller....
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Had a call with AWS support team. As per their logs, there are no performance issues with the hardware.
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Zach Sylvester Replied
Employee Post
Hello, 

Thanks for reaching out. I recommend upgrading to the newest build again. The issues with the settings files disappearing are most likely related to a 3rd party program accessing the files while SmarterMail is trying to use them. We have had no other reports of this issue. The newest build is very stable. Please try implementing these exceptions https://portal.smartertools.com/kb/a3249/microsoft-defender-antivirus-and-virus-scanner-exceptions.aspx as defender is a common culprit. 

Please do the following. 

  1. Upgrade to the newest build. 
  2. Implement the AV exceptions. Ensure you do this process for ALL AV programs on the box. 
  3. Check that your backup software is using VSS. If it is not then this could be the issue.
  4. After doing this reboot the machine. 

Let me know if this helps. 

Regards, 
Zach Sylvester Software Developer SmarterTools Inc. www.smartertools.com
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Jorel Haggard Replied
Employee Post
Hello,

In addition to what Zach said, it's worth noting that we have seen cases of Windows Defender ignoring the set exceptions and locking files within Smartermail. If you're having corruption issues and can't find the root cause, it's worth a try to disable Defender and see if that resolves things.

Best,
Jorel Haggard System/Network Administrator SmarterTools Inc. www.smartertools.com
0
  1. Upgrade to the newest build. 
    • Upgraded.
  2. Implement the AV exceptions. Ensure you do this process for ALL AV programs on the box. 
    • Defender exceptions checked and added. No other AV programs running.
  3. Check that your backup software is using VSS. If it is not then this could be the issue.
    • The backup software runs every other day at 1100pm only. Added .json to exceptions.
  4. After doing this reboot the machine. 
    • Done.
Fingers crossed. 
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As long as there is no changes to user accounts, the system is running fine.

On creating a new user or modifying user settings, the cpu load raises to 100% for a good 2 minutes and settles down to 20%. The admin interface logs out and asks for re-login. Changes in other domains are not having this issue. All inboxes of logged in users froze for the time being and released.

Checked AWS disk activity but not able to find any abnormal activity. The CPU recorded 100% utilisation for that period.
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accounts.json in archived folder is good this time. Why not keep the accounts.json multiple versions in archived folder and copy the archived file whenever the json is missing in the domain folder ?

I have observed that no .tmp is created at all.

Why to create a new empty file instead of taking the backed up version ?

It seems to be there is no failsafe mechanism build into the system. 

There is no answer from SM team why the system is stable up to version 8930 ? Why this issue started after that build. Whatever the reply by the team about we have not observed this issue with any other installation, there may be something wrong with your hardware/antivirus/backup tools is nothing but an excuse from your reluctance to accept that something went wrong after the builds 8930 where you started releasing common builds for win and linux.

There is no answer from SM team that out of 47 domains, why we are experiencing the issue with this domain only ?

Is the SM able to support larger installations ? 

We had a long trouble shooting session with AWS EC2, EBS and Windows support teams. They confirm that there is nothing wrong with instance we are currently running.

It is forcing our clients to look for another alternatives and leaving us. Try to understand loosing a customer with 15000 mail boxes who are happy for 3 years.


We are having 2 issues with the same domain (Build >8930).

1. Server slows down when we created a new mail box (Builds > 8930).
2. Accounts.json getting deleted randomly (Builds >8930). 

With build 8930
1. webmail is very slow.

Both are related to the same domain. All other domains on the same server having no issues at all.

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