Is it generally more efficient to run roundcube on the same server as the email (IMAP) server, or is it better to run from a different server?
depending on your load, there should or should not be some considerable change.
scenario 1: web server is on same switch (LAN) as IMAP server -- you should not have any problem with this even if you have 100 simultaneous users on the web front of the setup.
scenario 2: web server is located at a remote location -- roundcube settings permits you to cache the messages of mailbox content. of course this may have some payload on the web server, but speeds up RC's loading
<code>
// enable caching of messages and mailbox data in the local database. // this is recommended if the IMAP server does not run on the same machine $rcmail_config['enable_caching'] = TRUE;
// lifetime of message cache // possible units: s, m, h, d, w $rcmail_config['message_cache_lifetime'] = '10d';
</code>
having RC run on the IMAP server is also not a bad idea, but when you cant do that....the above two may help you out. test each to your specific situation
-- Mike Kwatampora
Of course, you might discount this possibility, but remember that one in a million chances happen 99% of the time.