Load Testing And Analysis Of Email Services

Abstract

In modern business, electronic mail has become a requirement for efficient and profitable communication with clients, providers, and colleagues. Due to this dependency on electronic communication, mail servers used to send, relay, and receive messages are critical to a company's daily operations. It is imperative that the mail server is highly resistant to attacks to provide a company with the most cost effective and reliable service possible. This paper describes the method and results of performance testing on several current email service implementations. Mail server software is configured on identical hardware where possible and tested for reactions to various simulated load conditions. For each configuration, throughput characteristics are measured and presented so that objective comparisons can be made.