Introduction
This document describes the mail queue size and message retention limits for the Email Security Appliance (ESA) and Security Management Appliance (SMA).
Determine Message Retention Capacity
Important Considerations and Risks
- Theoretical Estimates: The maximum message values provided are theoretical and based on an average message size of 15 KB (15,360 bytes).
- Environmental Adjustment: You must adjust these numbers based on the specific average message size and mail flow of the environment. For example, a higher average message size will reduce the total number of messages the queue can hold.
- Queue Overflow: If the mail queue reaches maximum capacity, the appliance will stop accepting new messages, which results in a denial of service for mail delivery.
In certain scenarios, the appliance must store messages for delivery at a later time. The following table summarizes the mail queue size and estimated message retention for each model:
| Appliance Type |
Model |
Mail Queue Size |
Max Messages (Est.) |
| ESA (Physical) |
C170, C190, C195 |
10 GB |
690,000 |
| ESA (Physical) |
C370, C380, C390, C395 |
35 GB |
2,440,000 |
| ESA (Physical) |
C670, C680, C690, C695, X1070 |
70 GB |
4,890,000 |
| ESAv (Virtual) |
C100V |
10 GB |
690,000 |
| ESAv (Virtual) |
C300V, C600V |
70 GB |
4,890,000 |
| SMA (Physical) |
M190, M195, M380 |
10 GB |
690,000 |
| SMA (Physical) |
M390, M395, M670, M680 |
20 GB |
1,390,000 |
| SMA (Physical) |
M690, M695, M1070 |
30 GB |
2,090,000 |
| SMAv (Virtual) |
M100V |
10 GB |
690,000 |
| SMAv (Virtual) |
M300V |
20 GB |
1,390,000 |
| SMAv (Virtual) |
M600V |
30 GB |
2,090,000 |
Verify Mail Queue Size via CLI
To identify the exact mail queue size of an appliance, execute the ipcheck command from the Command Line Interface (CLI).
Command: ipcheck
Function: This command displays hardware specifications, partition sizes, and license status.
When to use: Use this command to confirm the disk space allocated to the Mail Queue partition for a specific hardware or virtual instance.
When not to use: There are no restrictions for this command, but it requires CLI access.
Example output from a C600V:
myesa.local> ipcheck
Ipcheck Rev 1
Date Thu Nov 21 21:47:34 2019
Model C600V
Platform vmware (VMware Virtual Platform)
MGA Version Version: 13.0.0-314
...
Disk Total 500GB
Root 4GB 6%
Nextroot 4GB 6%
Var 400MB 5%
Log 400GB 7%
DB 12GB 0%
Swap 8GB
Mail Queue 70GB
RAM Total 16384M
...
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