[BlueOnyx:06507] Re: OWM and Spam

[Greg Kuhnert]

On 16/02/2011 2:23 AM, Darrell D. Mobley wrote:
>>> Bump.  I know there are other BX machines with OWM on them, does anyone else
>>> have problems with the filter_fakedfrom trapping legitimate mail because the
>>> originator of an email is on one ISP and the recipient is on another?
>> Just let the server's spamassassin and the blocklists stop the spam.
> My server doesn't have Spamassassin.  I am under the impression it is a
> resource hog.  I had the filters off, but the client was inundated with spam
> from using the same email address for 15 years listed on his website and
> Network Solutions' WHOIS database.  Legitimate mail was lost if the sea of
> spam.

Spamassassin in my experience is not a "resource hog". I use 
spamassassin as a milter, while mail is being initially received. Most 
mail gets blocked during the initial mail conversation. On my main 
server, the load is currently 0.05, which is about normal for me. I also 
run mailscanner which has a reputation for being a resource hog, but if 
it is setup correctly and used in conjunction with a decent first level 
filter, there is not a major resource impact.

Most spam is caught by the milter before getting to mailscanner, and 
therefore the overhead for mailscanner is not a big issue since its a 
small volume of mail to process. The end result for me is a clean mail 
feed, plus a detailed mail reporting tool available that allows users to 
have confidence about the mail filtering solution.

If you're really concerned about resources, just run spamassassin 
without mailscanner. But it is my opinion that a combination of both 
products is not a resource problem, if you set it up to block most mail 
at the first level filter.

Regards,
Greg.