Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!fernwood!portal!cup.portal.com!AMillar
From: AMillar@cup.portal.com (Alan DI Millar)
Newsgroups: comp.mail.misc
Subject: Re: CompuServe backlog; mail servers
Message-ID: <36907@cup.portal.com>
Date: 14 Dec 90 07:36:30 GMT
References: <KARL.90Dec12194010@giza.cis.ohio-state.edu>
Organization: The Portal System (TM)
Lines: 20

> We are considering, for the sake of gateway sanity, aggressively
> blowing away anything that clearly comes from or is going to an
> archive server.  This will require some administrative nonsense that I
> don't like, because I _really_ don't like peeking in other people's
> mail.  But we have to get control of the machines again.

I understand your point of view.  I also happen to be one of these
Leeches Of The Electronic Society who uses BITFTP (and don't forget the
LISTSERVs which access SIMTEL20).  As such, I have a vested interest in
archive servers.

May I make a suggestion?  If the line cost is not the issue, but machine load,
is there a way to _delay_ large mail messages from archive servers instead
of blowing them away?  Can you put them in some sort of low priority queue
to be processed at off-hours or something like that?  

Even if it took five days for an archive server reply to get to its
requester, I know I would still love it more than NO access.

- Alan Millar    AMillar@cup.portal.com