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Thread: Free email sites...
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06-27-2002, 07:07 AM #1WHT Addict
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Free email sites...
Hi,
I was checking my HotMail account today, when a thought came to me. How the hell can HotMail have millions of users on a single server? Does anyone know how they do it (and has anyone got a major free email site).
I am assuming this is how they do it:
When you signup for an account, the script checks the HD space of server 1,2,3,4 etc..and finds empty space to create the initial profile.
When you logon to the system (to help speed up everything), a single DB holds your user name, maybe password and which server your email resides on. Then you can log in.
Also, with all these millions of users, there cannot be a single smtp outgoing mail server right? (because it would cause a major overload) So each server also has its own outgoing smtp mail server?
Am I anyway close?- Abbas
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06-27-2002, 07:37 AM #2Hosting Solutions Provider
- Join Date
- Jun 2002
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- Spain
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- 125
mmm.... well....
There are "non x86" computers...
that can be plugged toghether with 128 or more processors, with terabytes of disc space running fiber optics conections...
you know...
then... think in more than one of this "multiple computers" in a multiple multiple computers environment ... with multiple raid disk configurations and looooots of memory...
you get the idea ?
Just look at this baby...
http://www.sgi.com/origin/3000/
up to 512 processors
up to 1Tb of memory
716Gb/seg. of systems bandwidth
Millons of dollars.....
quinticuasillinios of users
Just my 0.02 ...CAS Networks SL | Businesss Solutions Provider
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06-27-2002, 08:50 AM #3cholesterol dependent
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- Israel
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I had heard that when Microsoft bought HotMail, they tried porting the system to NT servers but were unsuccessful.
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06-27-2002, 11:47 AM #4Web Hosting Master
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- Feb 2002
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- 985
Do you think they have 1 computer? I don't think so.
It can be huge cluster or a lot of powerful computers:
hotmail.com. 1047 IN A 64.4.53.7
hotmail.com. 1047 IN A 64.4.54.7
hotmail.com. 1047 IN A 64.4.43.7
hotmail.com. 1047 IN A 64.4.44.7
hotmail.com. 1047 IN A 64.4.45.7
hotmail.com. 1047 IN A 64.4.52.7
So as you can see hotmail is on different IPs and probably different machines.
There is also possibility that they have 1 core "router" which accepts all connections and then it is doing the following:
-->Hotmail.com_____/j*@hotmail.com--------/a*@hotmail.com
And so on
So the mails starting from "A" are on one machine and other on others and the main router "Hotmail.com" accepting connections from the net and checking its database to see what goes first in the mail and then forwards it to the server that responsible for it.Powered by AMD & FreeBSD.
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06-27-2002, 05:18 PM #5Junior Guru
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- May 2002
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- 180
Yes I am sure hotmail runs on multiple systems. Also hotmail uses a modified version of QMail.
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06-27-2002, 10:47 PM #6WHT Addict
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Wow nice.. Thought it would be like that....
So, has anyone done this? I mean run an email site and have so many users that they use multiple servers?- Abbas
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06-28-2002, 01:51 AM #7Junior Guru Wannabe
- Join Date
- Feb 2001
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- 57
I think hotmail uses 5000 or so servers, running Unix or Linux.
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