[thelist] Emailing Newsletters - Server Load

[Allie Micka]

I'm assuming you've already written your app so this won't be too relevant.  
I don't know your particular situation but It's generally a good idea to use a list server tool such as ezmlm, mailman, etc. for this sort of thing.  

Not only because it saves time with rewriting the [un]subscribe stuff,
but because it will also correctly handle bounced messages by
recognizing the reasons for bouncing and then either queueing the
messages or probing and removing recipient.  These tools will also set 
appropriate email headers such as precedence: bulk and the like.  And 
they're usually written in c, which is going to be more efficient than 
server-side scripting languages that people have been known to use for
this purpose.  They're often more scalable as well. For instance, they 
often allow sublisting; distribution over several servers.

As for load, my experience is with ezmlm using a mysql backend.  I run
it on some pretty powerful hardware now but back in the day I used a
486sx/25 with 32mb ram.  I had several lists; a 6000, 300, and 250
recipient announcement list and several ~100 recipient discussion lists
and that little computer performed like a champ.

thanks,
Allie Micka
pajunas interactive, inc.
reusable web applications and hosting
http://pajunas.com