Backup MX Service on cPanel DNS only.
At the moment I have a backup mx box on my second name server, this holds mail if the main box goes down. However dns only has exim already installed, it just does not utilise and option for hold backup mail for all domains synced with it.
It would be good to provide a backup mx service in the cPanel DNS only install as this gives you mail redundancy as part of the cPanel product.
It should be a fairly minor change, as I would imagine the dns server already has the domains listed in a MySQL Database where it can be gererated and added to the relevant file in Exim.
I like this idea 
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This would be a great feature. We started to work on a configuration that would allow this to work, but would love to see it integrated by default.
Having exim store and forward with possibility to scan for spam/rbl would be ideal too!
This would be a great feature. We started to work on a configuration that would allow this to work, but would love to see it integrated by default.
Having exim store and forward with possibility to scan for spam/rbl would be ideal too!
This would be a great addition to come upto speed with email reliability as offered by the likes of GoDaddy
This would be a great addition to come upto speed with email reliability as offered by the likes of GoDaddy
This is definitely a must-have in order to provide e-mail reliability. It's not that hard to implement, as the support for this feature is already present in Exim - it's just a matter of configuration.
This is definitely a must-have in order to provide e-mail reliability. It's not that hard to implement, as the support for this feature is already present in Exim - it's just a matter of configuration.
The problem with backup MX servers is that they often do not have the anti-SPAM measures the main (big) server has. This means that spammers often use backup MX servers for sending SPAM even when the main servers are up and running!
So, one would need to sync the SPAM (config, statistics and filter) data between all MXs - and that, in return, would mean that you may need more resources on the backup server than for DNS only.
Please do not get me wrong, I am all for this feature, but it may not be as easy (and create as little work) as it looks.
The problem with backup MX servers is that they often do not have the anti-SPAM measures the main (big) server has. This means that spammers often use backup MX servers for sending SPAM even when the main servers are up and running!
So, one would need to sync the SPAM (config, statistics and filter) data between all MXs - and that, in return, would mean that you may need more resources on the backup server than for DNS only.
Please do not get me wrong, I am all for this feature, but it may not be as easy (and create as little work) as it looks.
In response to ned128, This is why the backup mail server should not accept any mail, unless the primary mail server is indeed, unreachable. There needs to be a check every so often, user defined, to alert the backup server to start accepting mail, and then stop, when it see's the primary server is back up. The backup mail server should have the same, if not more spam protection than the primary server, and most, if not all of these services could be off until needed.
In response to ned128, This is why the backup mail server should not accept any mail, unless the primary mail server is indeed, unreachable. There needs to be a check every so often, user defined, to alert the backup server to start accepting mail, and then stop, when it see's the primary server is back up. The backup mail server should have the same, if not more spam protection than the primary server, and most, if not all of these services could be off until needed.
@Ned128 Most setups that would require Backup MX already have a centralized SpamAssassin or RSPAM setup in the backend that aggregates and learns from all servers.
We currently use the pluginSMX to provide backup mx service. The only issue we noticed was that DNSONLY disables spam checking. using "/etc/spamdisable"
But essentially having cpanel integrate that feature would be ideal.
@Ned128 Most setups that would require Backup MX already have a centralized SpamAssassin or RSPAM setup in the backend that aggregates and learns from all servers.
We currently use the pluginSMX to provide backup mx service. The only issue we noticed was that DNSONLY disables spam checking. using "/etc/spamdisable"
But essentially having cpanel integrate that feature would be ideal.
This isn't currently only our roadmap, but I anticipate that projects we do have planned in the near future will make this much more technically feasible.
Stay tuned and please keep providing feedback!
Dustin Scherer (he/him)
Product Owner
@dustinscherer
This isn't currently only our roadmap, but I anticipate that projects we do have planned in the near future will make this much more technically feasible.
Stay tuned and please keep providing feedback!
Dustin Scherer (he/him)
Product Owner
@dustinscherer
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