forcing qmail to pass outgoing mail to another SMTP server
Charter communications blocks all outgoing traffic on port 25 that is not destined for its SMTP server. This means that if you run an SMTP server on your local network and are trying to send out e-mails to other servers on port 25, it will not work. To bypass this (using qmail), setup a file [...]
sysctl tuning
kern.ipc.somaxconn kern.maxfiles kern.maxfilesperproc kern.maxprocperuid kern.ipc.nmbclusters These is probably one of the most crucial areas to tune, otherwise your services are brought to their knees by hitting maxproc or maxfile ceilings. For some reason the base install of FreeBSD is not designed for a heavily trafficked server which always makes initital configuration a PITA because it’s [...]
bandwidth throttling with dummyNET
Bandwidth usage became a very sensitive issue as I ventured into running a site that used a lot of bandwidth. Being colocated and basically hooked up to the ISP’s backbone meant that I could potentially get hit with enough traffic to make me go broke in one month alone. This was very scary, so in [...]
never under estimate the power of a mass of people who fear change
I love the collective power of online communities. However, sometimes it really works against your best intentions. A recent upgrade to facebook.com, a large community-based site, brought about an internet riot of massive proportions. Scores threatened to leave the service after new features were added that simply were making it easier to do things that [...]
iTunes 7
Top marks for iTunes 7. Downloaded it yesterday and am playing with it for the first time this evening. The interface facelift is very nice. I really like the fluid display of album covers as you play different songs from your playlist. I’m currently downloading “Gone in 60 Seconds” to test out the video capabilities. [...]
