POC Checklist

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Proof of Concept (POC) Checklist

Section	Check
Environment	The environment must at least meet or exceed the hardware and software requirements.
	For commercial systems, it is always better to over-spec than to under-spec. The most successful deployments are the ones that cater for expanding requirements over the long term.
Ip Addresses	Assuming the mail server/s are residing inside the LAN, a minimum of 1 x 1GB ethernet connection is required.
Storage	Indexes and stores should be stored on separate storage devices. Ideally, indexes should be stored on low-latency media (such as an SSD disk / 10k / 15k SAS drive). Store information may be stored separately in regular storage.
	Do not store indexes on a NAS device connected via Ethernet connection. The indexes require low latency access. Furthermore, often times, network share protocols cannot handle the load and generate a lot of errors.
	Ensure store data is stored either locally, SAN via fibre channel interface, or iSCSI/ethernet. The use of NFS / CIFS is suitable only for SME environments (even then, use of locally accessible storage is preferable).
	If possible, test the performance and reliability of storage access in advance. Under heavy traffic, MailArchiva can place heavy demands on I/O sub systems.
	MailArchiva's stores are encrypted, so there is normally no need to enable disk encryption. However, it's worth noting that some of our high volume environments do have disk encryption enabled, and there are no problems with such a configuration.
	We have had success with NTFS, ZFS and ext 4 partitions.
Partitioning	Plan your partitioning carefully. Consider the requirements for the various modules in MailArchiva (config, logs, database, index, store, etc. ) On Linux, is it a common mistake to allocate too little space to the root partition.
Memory	Decide upfront how much heap space the MailArchiva system will need to be allocated.
	Do not allocate more than 6GB or less than 2GB of heap space without consulting MailArchiva support.
	Leave around 1/3 of memory freely available outside the allocated heap space.
	Remember: If the server is unstable, more than likely there is not enough memory allocated.
CPU Cores	MailArchiva is a highly multi-threaded application and will leverage all CPU cores under high load. Indexing and searching for email data can be CPU intensive. It is wrong to assume that MailArchiva will require little CPU resources as it is mainly an I/O intensive app.
OS	The choice of operating system should align with available internal skills. For instance, it is unwise to install MailArchiva on Linux if your system administrators are primarily used to working on Windows.
	MalArchiva may be installed on 64-bit Linux, 64-bit Windows, or 64-bit Windows Server. Our preference is Ubuntu Server (Headless). It is also perfectly reasonable to install on Redhat Enterprise Server Linux, SUSE or other popular Linux distributions.
	A 64-bit operating system is generally required.
	If running on Windows, ensure the Windows update is set to manual.
	If running Windows Server, disable all unnecessary services that could potentially drag down the performance of the server (DNS services. etc.).
	If running Windows, disable the Windows Search Service (click Start, type services.msc in the search box. Locate the Windows Search Service, click Properties, set Startup type to disable. Stop the service).
	Ensure that ports 8090, 8005, 8009 are available for binding on the MailArchiva machine.
	If you install on Windows, assistance from a domain administrator is required during the installation. For instance, a VBS script called ADSetupWizard.vbs must be run while the domain administrator is logged in.
	If you install on Linux, root access to the box is required.
Java	A default install of MailArchiva bundles the Java Runtime Environment (JRE v8). Thus, there is no need to pre-install Java on the server running MailArchiva. To avoid running into unforseen JRE issues, its preferable to use the Java Runtime included with MailArchiva.
Storage Format	Choose a suitable volume storage format for your deployment. For example, you may want to settle on V3 for big deployments that require high performance archiving.
Virtual Environments	MailArchiva will run inside virtual environments as long as it is adequately resourced. It is proven to run successfully under VMWare.
Anti-virus	Set antivirus software to manually initiate scanning only on the MailArchiva server.
Browser	Install a modern version of Chrome / Firefox / Internet Explorer for console management.
	If running IE, disable IE Enhanced Security Configuration mode and Browser Compatibility mode.
Firewall	If a firewall is running on the server running MailArchiva, ensure that necessary ports are open.
Mail servers	Ensure that you have the co-operation of the persons responsible for your mail server/s. Access to your mail server/s configuration will be required during setup.
Authentication	Ensure that you have the co-operation of the persons responsible for your Active Directory / LDAP server/s. Access to your authentication server will be required for setup purposes.
Microsoft 365	If you connect MailArchiva to Microsoft 365, port forward 25 on an external IP from your external firewall to the MailArchiva server. Create a DNS entry such that journaling traffic can be directed to MailArchiva via email address such as archive@mailarchiva.company.com, where mailarchiva.company.com resolves to the external IP address of MailArchiva. Furthermore, if folder synchronization is required, proxy the address https://mailarchiva.company.com/o365 to port 8888 on the MailArchiva server.
Passwords	Plan how inputted passwords will be stored and remembered (they should survive termination of employment). MailArchiva requires the input of many sensitive passwords. The encryption password is the most important, as if it is forgotten, total data loss can result.

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