Topic: delay in mail reaching reciepient

[veeresh]

hi,

A mail was sent from a sme user to xxx@gmail.com.  there was a 4 hour delay in the reciepent actually receiving it.  how can we arrive at what caused the delay.  the mail header of the reciepient is added here.



                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
Delivered-To: xxx@gmail.com
Received: by 10.100.205.10 with SMTP id c10cs202210ang;
        Tue, 23 Dec 2008 23:18:29 -0800 (PST)
Received: by 10.65.74.16 with SMTP id b16mr5037352qbl.1.1230103109269;
        Tue, 23 Dec 2008 23:18:29 -0800 (PST)
Return-Path: <abc@dataone.in>
Received: from mumbbmr1.dataone.in ([218.248.240.249])
        by mx.google.com with ESMTP id k7si16409087qba.26.2008.12.23.23.18.27;
        Tue, 23 Dec 2008 23:18:29 -0800 (PST)
Received-SPF: pass (google.com: domain of abc@dataone.in designates 218.248.240.249 as permitted sender) client-ip=218.248.240.249;
Authentication-Results: mx.google.com; spf=pass (google.com: domain of abc@dataone.in designates 218.248.240.249 as permitted sender) smtp.mail=dpkgroup@dataone.in
Received: from conversion-daemon.mumbbmr1.dataone.in by mumbbmr1.dataone.in
 (Sun Java System Messaging Server 6.2-6.01 (built Apr  3 2006))
 id <0KCD00A01ABREP00@mumbbmr1.dataone.in>
 (original mail from abc@dataone.in) for XXX@gmail.com; Wed,
 24 Dec 2008 12:44:43 +0530 (IST)
Received: from smeserver.abc.in ([59.98.48.220])
 by mumbbmr1.dataone.in (Sun Java System Messaging Server 6.2-6.01 (built Apr 3
 2006)) with ESMTPA id <0KCD0071PDCLUGT0@mumbbmr1.dataone.in> for
 xxx@gmail.com; Wed, 24 Dec 2008 12:42:25 +0530 (IST)
Received: (qmail 24643 invoked by uid 453); Wed, 24 Dec 2008 03:00:48 +0000
Received: from localhost (HELO localhost) (127.0.0.1)
 by dpkgroup.in (qpsmtpd/0.40) with ESMTP; Wed, 24 Dec 2008 08:30:48 +0530
Received: from 59.92.160.102 ([59.92.160.102])
 by 59.96.49.220 (Horde MIME   library) with HTTP; Wed, 24 Dec 2008 08:30:48 +0530
Date: Wed, 24 Dec 2008 08:30:48 +0530
From: Madan Sampathraman <madan@abc.in>
Subject: FW: zero hour defect on following engines
To: xxx@gmail.com
Message-id: <20081224083048.ni5uij1lr4cg4ocg@59.98.48.220>
MIME-version: 1.0
Content-type: multipart/mixed; boundary="Boundary_(ID_MpNNE4EViSeXkbP0eWmlyA)"
X-Virus-Checked: Checked by ClamAV on abc.in
User-Agent: Internet Messaging Program (IMP) H3 (4.1.6)



here is the qpsmtpd log entry for that mail


2008-12-24 08:24:11.147124500 24388 logging::logterse plugin: ` 127.0.0.1   localhost   localhost   <madan@abc.in>   <xxx@gmail.com>,Mail::Address=ARRAY(0xb7543fb4)   queued      <20081224082410.gzd2nflu68kkw0o8@59.98.48.220>   
2008-12-24 08:24:33.957675500 24431 logging::logterse plugin: ` 127.0.0.1   localhost   localhost   <madan@abc.in>   <xxx@gmail.com>,Mail::Address=ARRAY(0xb7543fac)   queued      <20081224082433.8aytha0pessg04kw@59.98.48.220>   
2008-12-24 08:24:54.114115500 24472 logging::logterse plugin: ` 127.0.0.1   localhost   localhost   <madan@abc.in>   <xxx@gmail.com>,Mail::Address=ARRAY(0xb7543fa4)   queued      <20081224082453.y864b1u8840g8kk8@59.98.48.220>   
2008-12-24 08:30:48.519037500 24638 logging::logterse plugin: ` 127.0.0.1   localhost   localhost   <madan@abc.in>   <xxx@gmail.com>,Mail::Address=ARRAY(0xb7544f3c)   queued      <20081224083048.ni5uij1lr4cg4ocg@59.98.48.220>



Any inputs will be appreciated,

Thanks

Veeresh

[mmccarn]

When dealing with this many time zones, you need to start by converting all headers to a common timezone for comparison:
Received By              Msg Date   Msg Time  Offset Message Local Time  Message GMT
==============           ========   ========  ====== ==================  ===========
10.100.205.10            12/23/2008 23:18:29    -8   12/23/08 11:18 PM   12/24/08 7:18 AM
10.65.74.16              12/23/2008 23:18:29    -8   12/23/08 11:18 PM   12/24/08 7:18 AM
mx.google.com            12/23/2008 23:18:29    -8   12/23/08 11:18 PM   12/24/08 7:18 AM
mumbbmr1.dataone.in      12/24/2008 12:44:43    5.5  12/24/08 12:44 PM   12/24/08 7:14 AM
mumbbmr1.dataone.in      12/24/2008 12:42:25    5.5  12/24/08 12:42 PM   12/24/08 7:12 AM
qmail                    12/24/2008 3:00:48      0   12/24/08 3:00 AM    12/24/08 3:00 AM
localhost                12/24/2008 8:30:48     5.5  12/24/08 8:30 AM    12/24/08 3:00 AM
59.96.49.220             12/24/2008 8:30:48     5.5  12/24/08 8:30 AM    12/24/08 3:00 AM

From this, the delay occured between your SME server and (your ISP?) mumbbmr1.dataone.in.

Your SME server qmail logs may show multiple delivery attempts.

[edit]
Note: I originally mis-read the message headers, and have made significant changes since my original post
[/edit]

[David Harper]

A common fix for unusual problems delivering email is to use your ISP's SMTP server to deliver messages. Give this a go if you continue to have issues.

[veeresh]

thanks mmccarn and david harper,

My isp's smtp server is mumbbmr1.dataone.in. which was not available for half a day. hence the delay.


There were multiple delivery attempts in my qmail log

I have a fixed Public ip but I am using my ISP's smtp for sending mails. looks like it is not very reliable.  Is it ok to send out mails directly from my sme-server.  what are the other options known, which would not cost much.

thanks

Veeresh

[David Harper]

There's no issue with delivering mail directly, so long as your fixed IP isn't on a blacklist or greylist after being abused by a previous owner.

Give it a go and see what happens. Usually sending to Gmail, Hotmail and Yahoo addresses will give you an idea as to whether this will work, as they proactively ban even slightly annoying originating IPs.

Another option might be to try buying cheap hosting (1&1 will give you a cheap package for US$3/month IIRC) and then using their SMTP server as a relay. But give the no-relay option a serious run-through first, as you already have the fixed IP, and this would be easiest.

[mmccarn]

If you decide to send directly:
- make sure your DNS is configured correctly (MX records, PTR records)
- make sure your IP is not listed on any black lists (I check using http://www.mob.net/~ted/tools/rbl.php3 or http://www.robtex.com/; if your IP is 59.96.49.220 then you are already listed in UCEProtect list levels 2 and 3 - meaning while your IP isn't specifically implicated, many of the IPs served by your ISP are sending SPAM.  This probably explains your ISP's mail server outage.)
- consider creating an 'SPF' record for your domain (learn more at http://www.openspf.org/)
- locate and read up on the postmaster tools provided by yahoo, hotmail, gmail, aol, etc - each of these major email providers has slightly different policies, but most offer tools that allow you to at least find out *why* they are blocking your email (if they are).

If you decide to avoid direct delivery, and your ISP is unreliable for email delivery, there are a few paid smtp relay services that you could use:
- no-ip.com: $20/YEAR for 150 email relays/day (http://www.no-ip.com/services/service_pricing.html#smtp)
- dyndns.org: $15/YEAR for 150 email relays/day (http://www.dyndns.com/services/pricing/#als)
(note that 1 email to 10 recipients is 10 "relays" for no-ip but only one "relay" for dyndns.org)
- many inexpensive web hosting plans also include email server capabilities, including smtp relay.