Custom mailing list problems - MySQL/Perl

[Himself]

I'm not using the mailing list program provided by hostrocket. I've written my own program in Perl that interacts with the fields in my database table to personalise my member email messages.

Anyway, heres my problem; at first I built the program to be run over a browser (HTML/Perl, interacting with mysql dbase). I would enter my text in a textarea field, and hit send, and that would/should be it. The message is supposed to be going out to 2697 members, but when done over the web, it only makes it to approx 1800 recepients. Maybe because of the difference in the rate at which the server's pushing out the emails, and the browser refreshes, I dont know.

Then, I rewrote the program so it could be run via SSH telnet at the perl prompt. when I run the program and send the mails that way, It goes out to more people: 2406/2697. but thats still leaving out over 200 members.

I wrote the program so that a confirmation is printed each time the loop that sends the mail is executed, and a counter is incremented and its value printed:
EX:
---------------------------------
while (more records in table)
{
send email to current recepient;

##Confirmation message:
print "Email number [$counter] to [$email_address] has been sent]
}
---------------------------------

At the end of the program, the counter shows that the loop has been done the correct number of times (2697), yet the actual # emails sent is still short by a few hundred.

If anyone knows why this is, and if possible, could suggest a fix to either of these alternatives (run over browser, or prompt), it would be much appreciated.

Thanks

- Himself

[petesmc]

I have no answer to this question but what is your domain name?

And how often are you trying to send these out?

Peter

[Himself]

The site hasnt been developed yet. It only has one page up, so I dont really want to post the URL just yet. I transferred over to hostrocket a few days ago.
Ive mostly been using it for emails.

I made three attempts to send the mails out over a 4hr period (didnt want to overload server) These three attempts were all sent to my personal email address (not the actual recepients). Then the actual email was sent, which makes for a total of 4 times.

As it turns out, I was too impatient. It was that only the first 1800 got delivered AT FIRST, then about 40 minutes later, the otheres were delivered. Apparantly the serevr had to "rest up" a bit.

For any one out there thast doing someting similar to this (if anyone) the best way to do it is in 1500 recepient intervals. I modified the script so that it only sent 1500 at a time. This way, all mail gets delivered almost instantly.

Petesmc, are there any restriction on the number of recepients that can be on a mailing list/database on hostrocket.com? Or the number of emails that can be sent at any one time?

[petesmc]

Hi,

You should seperate the addresses more than that so that the emails are sent over a longer period like an hour.

This is to ensure no overloads which you can have your account suspended.

Peter

[Himself]

OK, well my list right now has almost 3000 recepients and growing, so just to be on the safe side, please let me know the NUMBER of emails I should send at any one time.

I'm asking this because right now it would be ok to send out my entire list of 3000 over an hour, but what about when it grows to 15000? That would become a cause for concern

[petesmc]

If you had 15000 emails to send, you plainly wouldn't be allowed. That is just too much. Most people with anything close to that amount has a different company to send out emails like dundee.net and some others.

I'll get someone else to answer the other question.

Peter

[Stimpy]

Where does it say we can't send out 15,000 emails? And why would that not be allowed? Isn't that a legitimate function? Doesn't the server set an extremely low priority to sendmail functions, only sending them out when other processing isn't going on? (I would assume this is why he didn't get all the e-mails at the same time) So, is overload even an issue? And why would my account be suspended if the server processors can't handle what I'm doing? I hope this company isn't in the practice of just shutting people down when they don't like what they're doing. I've read a few comments on this board recently that are making me start to wonder... I can't see 3000 emails overloading these servers. Maybe if this was running on a pentium 100 with 16 meg of ram....

[Himself]

Thank you!

I was beginning to wonder if I was going crazy in thinking that the admin's/hostrocket's response was somewhat of a cause for concern.

I plan to stick it out and see what they'll do when my list DOES hit 15000 (as it will). I'm very curious to find out.

[petesmc]

15,000 emails is a damn lot of emails. Even though they make be sent out when the serve ris doing nothing, it still does overload the server.

[Stimpy]

How long have you been working with internet servers? You are a server admin right? I mean, that would be why you know that this would be a problem?

And is your mannerism in the approach to this whole question a standard example of customer service here?

Who's actually in charge of Hostrocket? I'd like to know how to get in touch with them. And that's not just a passing question! I want to know who owns or is the general manager of Hostrocket, because I want to speak with them regarding the way a few of the questions here are answered by those who say they are employed by them!

[petesmc]

I have never worked with Internet servers and i still don't. I'm not the server admin, however I personally know that 15000 emails in a day is alot of emails.

I personally didn't find anything wrong with my reply, and i don't work on the board, this is my freedom of speech, i work on answering support tickets.

There are two people in charge of HostRocket, to get in touch with them, send in a trouble ticket.

LOL

-Peter

[Stimpy]

Love the way ya'll treat your customers.

I'm glad you think it's funny. Shows the level of maturity here.

[Brendan]

Hello,
I am an actual server admin and an owner of HostRocket. Mail can hog system resources a lot more than people think... you state that that much mail shouldn't slow down a machine unless its a pentium 100mhz with 64 megs of ram, which couldn't be more wrong. Consider this, when you have a dual pIII machine with 768MB of ram, its not there for the pure disposal of one persons email. These servers run first and foremost Apache, MySQL, PHP, perl, ImageMagick, Gzip utils, mail, and gcc compilers of everyone who uses the machine. Now say one person feel they're entitled to send 5-10 or emails emails every second... that is a ton of email considering this person could be using up to 25% of the CPU usage, which is needless to say ridiculous as we don't put 4 people to a server of course. Regardless of how many mails are being sent, when you send them all in a short period of time its going to cause problems, these are not dedicated mail servers they are web servers.

John Reyes
HostRocket.com Support

[Stimpy]

BTW - What you personally think about your post and what is perceived by the customers here, specifically me, are two different things. Being that you add the fact that you work for HR in your sig tag, you're representing this company whether they want you to or not. So as far as I'm concerned, when you speak to me on this board or otherwise regarding my interaction with this company, you represent this company. And if you're response in MY opinion, is not proper, and you laugh about it, all you do is hurt this company. If you think that's funny, I'm happy that you have such a sense of humor. But this is how dot com companies end up going down hill. This type of behavior gets spread throughout the internet community very quickly.

[Stimpy]

How do I go about getting a refund for my account since it's obvious that it's OK for petesmc to run around thinking he's cool and all, laughing at customers?

[spyres]

If someone is hogging up the servers and causing problems, then it's that person being rude. With some folks having trouble with their mail, it makes me wonder if this might be part of the problem...If the owners of HR don't want to let this person to abuse their servers, they have every right to let them know and potentially do something about it. John answered the question quite clearly. Anyone with an ounce of common sense would see that 15000 e-mails in that short a period of time is extreme. As another customer of HR, I feel folks like this who abuse the servers just end up causing problems for everyone else. So... I hope HR gives ya a prompt refund so you can take your whining elsewhere. :)

[Edited by spyres on 03-04-2001 at 09:55 PM]

[petesmc]

Do you know why I have that signature. Because a week ago before I had that signature, I used to get around ten emails a day from HostRocket members, asking if I did work for HR. That is the reason I have it in my signature.

Just to make you happy, I have removed this from my signature and don't plan to put it back.

Hopefully you now understand why you could not allow someone with such high email output to send them.

Also, I was not laughing at you. I laughed at the last comment that you said.

Sorry for all the trouble caused,

Regards, Peter

[Edited by petesmc on 03-04-2001 at 05:27 PM]

[Bob The Builder]

Yo Pete,

Haven't talked to you in ages.

Remember me...I was one of the many people that asked you if you worked for HR, you also helped me with a script...

Anyway..

Stimpy, Himself:

I've never known a host that will let you send out 10K emails or more without charging you allot for it. This is the way it works. You want 10K emails sentout, yo send in $500.

Also, many people tend to go with:

http://www.dundee.net/isp/email.htm
http://www.sparklist.com/services/newsletter/
http://www.moreover.com/

Regards, Bob the Builder.

[Stimpy]

Pete, thanks...

As for everyone else ...

If I pay for service, I expect it... Give me the rules up front so I can make a sound business decision. If you don't want someone doing something, you need to say so up front before you take their money. When I sign up for a hosting account it's because I intend to do business with it. And sometimes part of business is sending out mass e-mails. It's not rude on anyone's part to fire off a mass e-mailing if they're paying for the service. Period. I do not code or determine my business rules and practices based on what everyone else on these servers feel is right. That would be plain stupid.

Maybe I'm looking at things wrong. I was under the assumption that I was paying for a service here, not the opportunity to become part of a community. Business is Business.

spyres, if a business took your attitude towards everyone that "whines", pretty soon, they wouldn't have any customers. I think that was the point I was trying to make. Except for this incident, and a few, very few others that made me stop and think, I believe that the support here is great. And I see why a few of you have felt the need to come to the aid of these folks... But, again, keep in mind, whether I pay 1 dollar for something, or 100 dollars for something, I expect service, and a certain attitude when I question the service. The simple "take your whiny self someplace else" is very bad for business.

I've seen that go away if you don't like it attitude on many BBS's. But this BBS is in support of this business, not just a community for a group mindset to take control and dictate how people should behave, and those that don't fall into the norm be outcast. Everything that happens here and that is said here is a reflection of HostRocket.com. Even if it is by there customers. Because if the folks at HostRocket allow customers to belittle other on their boards, without doing anything to stop it, then they are approving of it. But don't take my word for it, ask your attorney.

[petesmc]

I can close this thread if you like.

Peter

[Himself]

I dont think this thread should be closed. My intention when I opened it wasnt to have it result in what it did, but I think it would be good if prospective hostrocket customers see posts such as this. Irrespective of whether or not hostrocket.com or its users come out looking professional.

As Stimpy said, its good when someone knows exactly what theyre paying for BEFORE paying for it. this issue isnt covered in any material on hostrockets website, and since this is the only source for information on this topic, I vote leave it up.

- Himself

[petesmc]

Ok...

-Peter

[spyres]

Originally posted by Stimpy

It's not rude on anyone's part to fire off a mass e-mailing if they're paying for the service.


It is if they are clearly violating the TOS and causing hundreds of other paying customers to have potentially malfunctioning mail... :(


whether I pay 1 dollar for something, or 100 dollars for something, I expect service, and a certain attitude when I question the service.

[/B]

Hm... So if you buy a Hyundai, you expect the same service and support as if you'd bought a Mercedes? If you spend a dollar for a Hamburger at McDonalds, you expect to get the same service you would at a fine restaurant?


Because if the folks at HostRocket allow customers to belittle other on their boards, without doing anything to stop it, then they are approving of it. But don't take my word for it, ask your attorney.
[/B]

I'll try to remember to be threatened by this. Could we possibly be more dramatic? :)


But this is how dot com companies end up going down hill. This type of behavior gets spread throughout the internet community very quickly.

How do I go about getting a refund for my account since it's obvious that it's OK for petesmc to run around thinking he's cool and all, laughing at customers?
[/B]


Pete was trying to get this guy an answer and you threaten HR then whine about a refund. How mature.

You asked:


Where does it say we can't send out 15,000 emails? And why would that not be allowed?

[/B]

HR answered this way...


Now say one person feel they're entitled to send 5-10 or emails emails every second... that is a ton of email considering this person could be using up to 25% of the CPU usage, which is needless to say ridiculous as we don't put 4 people to a server of course. Regardless of how many mails are being sent, when you send them all in a short period of time its going to cause problems, these are not dedicated mail servers they are web servers.

[/B]

This is a clear answer from one of the owners. He makes it clear that this kind of use is clear abuse of the servers. You choose to support the position that HR has "bad" service whilst you are supporting a guy who wants to send out nearly a half million e-mails a month! Oh please...
[/B][/QUOTE]

[Edited by spyres on 03-05-2001 at 11:10 AM]

[petesmc]

Hi...

I'm sorry, but I am closing this thread, it can still be read but no replies may be made.

Thank You

-Peter