Do I really need SpamAssassin?
Posted by dr00t, 09-18-2008, 03:26 AM I have a relatively low-end server that is running cPanel and SpamAssassin. The server is going on 2 years old now, so the SpamAssassin dictionary file (or whatever you call it) is probably pretty large. However, there are only like 5 email accounts that people actively use on the server. Although, there are about 100 active "forwarded" email accounts created on the server too. Usually, I average a load of about .65 - but when SPAMD kicks on (SpamAssassin) then the load jumps anywhere from 1.5 to 4.0 at times. I just cannot deal with the high load anymore. So, I need a solution that will get me by for a few more months before I purchase a higher-end server that can handle my issues. My questions are as follows: 1. Do I really need SpamAssassin anymore? 2. Do I have any alternatives? 3. Does anyone have any other suggestions on what I should do for the next few months until I get a newer server? Sometimes, I stop the SpamAssassin for a few hours to watch the load go back down, and it really feels good like the server is catching a breath. But I am reluctant to keep the service off until I get more information from the rest of you pros. Thanks in advance.
Posted by webcertain, 09-18-2008, 03:56 AM spamd is very intensive, but it shouldnt be that bad - we run it on a server with > 500 email accounts on it, and it doesnt hit anything like you describe :/ You might want to go read the spamassasin docs and see if there are options that slow it down a lot that can be turned off. Also, if the cpanel server is up to date there are a lot of options in exim config and elsewhere that will reject a good portion of spam without even involving spamassasin.
Posted by dr00t, 09-18-2008, 04:14 AM Interesting. Thanks for the insight. I'll look into that manual.
Posted by MH-Nick, 09-18-2008, 05:52 AM Do you have RBLs scanning your mail? I had the same issue with spamd maxing out, but enabling this (in WHM) sorted things out. RBLs reject about 95% of spam, leaving spamd little to do
Posted by PCS-Chris, 09-18-2008, 06:38 AM Indeed RBLs + ACL's are the way to go for low resource usage anti-spam. As of cPanel 11 there are RBLs built in which you can turn on in Exim Configuration editor.