Re: Email messages: How large is too large?

["John W. Noerenberg" <jwn2 at qualcomm.com>]

At 5:39 PM -0800 12/10/99, Ross Finlayson wrote:
> So I wonder, what do people think is a reasonable suggested maximum email
> message size these days (for messages sent over the public Internet, not
> just within a private intranet)?

I'm not sure you can express this in absolute terms.  If a message is 
so large delivery of it impedes the ability of you neighbors to use 
the net, it's too large.  But I have no idea how to apply a criteria 
like that in a realistic way.  Once a message has been handed to the 
first smtp-receiver, determining if the path it transits obstructs 
other traffic at any point along its path is well beyond the ken of 
the original sender.

I suppose an smtp sender could apply a size-of-message policy to sort 
it's queue.  That at least would keep a large message from 
obstructing a gaggle of shorter ones, especially for a slow link.

>   Is there a RFC anywhere that lists a
> recommended maximum size?  And should email programs issue a warning if a
> user tries to send a message that's 'too large'?

Defining "too large" is tricky.  "Too large for whom?  The sender, 
the receiver or any hop in between?  Eudora will warn a user if he 
queues a message larger than a certain value.  The threshold can be 
set by the user.  The motivation is to warn senders using a dial-up 
connection they are about to spend a long time on the phone.  It 
might encourage senders to have some consideration for receivers of 
their message, although I wouldn't claim much chance of that.

best,
--

john noerenberg
jwn2 at qualcomm.com
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