HT204393: OS X Server: Adjusting message size limits for the Mail service

Learn about OS X Server: Adjusting message size limits for the Mail service
Suzy2014
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Desktops

Q: Does Mail (Mavericks) have any limitations for size, numer of mailboxes, folders, messages, etc.?

Does Mail (Mavericks) have any limitations for size, numer of mailboxes, folders, messages, etc. ?

Mac Pro, OS X Mavericks (10.9.1)

Posted on Feb 2, 2014 1:36 PM

by Csound1,Solvedanswer
Csound1 Csound1
Level 9 (50,297 points)
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A:

Not that will have any affect.

 

The email provider however will have limits on how many can be sent in any period, how large they can be and so on.

Posted on Feb 2, 2014 1:41 PM

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Suzy2014

Q: Does Mail (Mavericks) have any limitations for size, numer of mailboxes, folders, messages, etc.?

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  • by Csound1,Solvedanswer

    Csound1 Csound1 Feb 2, 2014 1:41 PM in response to Suzy2014
    Level 9 (50,297 points)
    Desktops
    Feb 2, 2014 1:41 PM in response to Suzy2014

    Not that will have any affect.

     

    The email provider however will have limits on how many can be sent in any period, how large they can be and so on.

  • by MrHoffman,Helpful

    MrHoffman MrHoffman Feb 2, 2014 1:49 PM in response to Suzy2014
    Level 6 (15,627 points)
    Mac OS X
    Feb 2, 2014 1:49 PM in response to Suzy2014

    Any limitations?  Sure.  You can't run the mail for a multinational corporation on a Mac Mini Server, you'd overload the box and bury the mail server. 

     

    In terms of general limits, none that you're very likely to reach.  Well, short of consuming all disk storage space and related physical limits.

     

    If you're looking to add storage quotas and related to accounts, yes, those can be enabled.  There aren't quotas for the total number of messages or mailboxes, however.

     

    If you're looking to replace Microsoft Exchange Server (as is a fairly common question around here), you'll want to elaborate on what your requirements and expectations might be, and what you're currently using.  This as OS X Server isn't a direct competitor with what Exchange Server can provide.  For various requirements and environments, Exchange Server is a better choice.

  • by Suzy2014,

    Suzy2014 Suzy2014 Feb 2, 2014 2:25 PM in response to Suzy2014
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Desktops
    Feb 2, 2014 2:25 PM in response to Suzy2014

    Thanks. As a single user, I want to download my Email (other than the spam that Comcast, my ISP filters out) to my computer. I have relatively large mailboxes now (using Eudora as a client) and wanted to make sure that I will not ask for problems when I migrate over to Mavericks due to some limitations for mailbox size, number of Emails, etc.. Disk space will not be an issue.

  • by MrHoffman,

    MrHoffman MrHoffman Feb 3, 2014 7:25 AM in response to Suzy2014
    Level 6 (15,627 points)
    Mac OS X
    Feb 3, 2014 7:25 AM in response to Suzy2014

    Ah, so you're not considering running OS X Server here, you're running OS X client and asking about the mail client — looks like both the Apple bot that suggested that support article and I were confused.


    Mavericks Mail.app does have a few flakies that I've noticed but does work.  If Mail.app gets confused, restart it and see if it's less confused.  If the accounts get confused and start tossing the password prompt, remove and re-add the accounts.  When re-adding the accounts, don't use the Internet Accounts path, use the Mail > Preferences path.

     

    Do make a backup or two before the Mavericks upgrade, and most definitely configure and use Time Machine or some other backup tools after the upgrade.

     

    If you do decide to go to server (which is where I'd thought this question was originally headed), then you can download everything to your own local server — that'll take some add-on software to pull the mail from your ISP, or a set of mail-forwarding rules to push the mail, and some command-line tweaks to relay the mail out (as you're probably on a DHCP dynamic residential IP address), but that'll work, too.