[Mailman-Users] Sendmail and slow sending to large list

[Schlachter, Kristofer]

Scott,

Thanks for replying. I hope that I didn't write too much.

Some more info:
I have a cabinet at a co-location facility(Globix) where I host a website.  
I have a firewall(managed by ISS) in my cabinet and the all my machines are
behind it.  
I am using Globix's dns servers which are on the other side of my firewall.
I should mention that currently the mailman server does not have an mx
record. It will eventually, but I am only sending mail out to a group of
people who subscribed to a newsletter.  They can unsubscribe through a web
page. How bad is this for performance?

> Kristofer, 
> Your problem could be the reverse look ups that the server is trying to
> do. If you add the machines to the /etc/hosts files and configure the
> /etc/nsswitch.conf to do files before dns that should clear 
> up that problem.
I am using public IP's for all my machines, is it still possible that this
could be a problem?

> The other problem... Let me get this straight. The mailman server is
> sitting behind the firewall and the dns server is on the 
> other side? 
That is correct.  

> What is blocking the port? The firewall or the DNS server.
Firewall.

> can you route the mail to antohre machine that you can use as a smarthost?
I don't know what smarthost is.  Would putting BIND on the mailman machine
be a good idea?  I am thinking about it.

> Give me a better idea on the layout of the firewall, dns server and
mailman server.
The rulebase on my firewall(A managed firewall running Checkpoint Firewall-1
on Nokia Hardware)allows the mailman to talk to the dns servers on port 53
with udp and tcp packets.  The rule only goes one way: from the mailman
server to the dns server.  I think that there is something wrong with my
setup though.  I keep getting lots of dropped packets from the dns server
trying to talk to my mailman server on ports in the 1000-5000 range
ascending by one port each try.  That shouldn't happen as the firewall
should be aware of what ports my mailman server used to connect with(I
think).

Thanks,

Kristofer Schlachter