Making ListManager Run Faster

This is a list of techniques we have found which can have an effect ListManager performance, and make it run faster.

Have a DNS Server under your control
Instead of having ListManager use your Internet Service Provider’s DNS server, install one that is available on your local network. If possible, make it a full DNS server, that can look up its own records, instead of just caching the records from another DNS server. If you install the DNS server on the same machine running ListManager, specify the address "127.0.0.1" as the TCP/IP address of the ListManager server.

Limit SMTP error logs

Receiving detailed SMTP logs for a list posting can sometimes be the only way to track down problems. However, keeping track of all this information and then sending the potentially large attachment through email can have a performance penalty on your ListManager server. Use detailed SMTP reports only when critical to solve delivery problems.

Do not receive Error Mail Notifications
If you are set as a list administrator, have a large mailing list (10,000+ members), and set yourself to receive error mail notifications, you will be asking ListManager to forward every copy of Error mail on to you. This increases the amount of work ListManager needs to do when it receives error mail.

Do not disable error mail handling
By default, ListManager will keep track of error mail, and a point each day that a user bounces mail. After a number of points configured in the List Settings screen, a user is put on hold. Do not turn this mechanism off for large lists, as you will be telling ListManager to send mail to all your email addresses, even those that are invalid. We find that about 10% of a mailing list's addresses go bad every month. Not letting ListManager clean up the list of members for you adds significantly to the load. See Error Mail Handling for information on how to set your lists up to properly hold and purge members.

Purchase the "Plus", “Diamond”, or "Extreme" version of ListManager.
 If you are unsure as to whether a different license can help you, contact us at sales@yourcompany.com for a free time-dated enhanced serial number, which will provide you with a limited-time opportunity to see that version in action.

Make sure you have enough memory
Many sites are out of memory, and running on virtual memory (hard disk swapfile). The most important measurement on Windows and Unix systems is the total memory that your processes are using. If your processes are using more memory than you have physical memory, then you are low on memory, and likely using your swapfile heavily.

Notify Held Members infrequently
On large lists, ListManager will be identifying many members with email problems and putting them on hold. If you use the hold notify feature, where ListManager sends a notification message to held members, do so infrequently, such as on a 4 or 5 day interval. Sending held notifications every night tends to use a lot of CPU power just to try to send mail to people who probably are not receiving it anyway.

Use SQL Server 7 Client Tools (MS SQL only)

We found the network drivers provided with SQL Server 2000 to be much slower than we found was shipped with SQL Server 7. While we recommend SQL Server 2000 over SQL Server 7, if it is possible to install the SQL Server 7 Client Tools on the machine running ListManager you may see much better speeds in exchanging data with your SQL Server.