On Tue, 1 May 2007, Robert A. Rosenberg wrote:
...
The above quote was mine. I fail to see where there is any massive disk space
or bandwidth usage if implemented correctly. There HAS to be some ultimate
SMTP Server that is delivering the message to the user's POP/IMAP Mailbox.
How hard is it for THAT SMTP Server (if not the ones that is handing the
message off it it) to put the for clause into the Received Header as it
places the cloned copy of the message into the user's mailbox? The delivery
SMTP Server MUST clone the message at that point anyway (and it takes no
extra disk space or bandwidth for the INCOMING message).
"Black box" mail store that place each message in a separate file (such as
Cyrus IMAP) usually use filesystem hardlinks such that there's only one
copy of the message on disk for any number of recipients up to the max
link-count. That space optimization obviously can't be used if the
messages aren't exact duplicates.
Philip Guenther