Determining the requirements

To find out what number of virtual machines and what VM hardware configuration you need, you must assess the total number of messages per second, hour, or day in incoming and outgoing email traffic of your organization.

We recommend calculating the total number of messages in incoming and outgoing email traffic depending on the type of load caused by the traffic:

• If the main volume of email traffic occurs during working hours, the peak of daytime traffic is not very sharp and is less than 3 times the daily average, use the maximum number of messages per day.
• If peak traffic is over three times the daily average (for example, there are mass mailing events), and such peaks last for less than an hour, use the maximum number of messages per second.
• If peak traffic is over three times the daily average and such peaks last for more than an hour, use the maximum number of emails per hour.

If you cannot determine the type of load or the maximum number of messages per hour or per day, use the maximum number of messages per second to derive the hardware configuration.

If you are expecting the maximum number of messages to increase within a year, for example, by 20%, use this figure as a safety factor when designing for the relevant period.