Entire mailbox contents duplicated via POP3 07/01/2011

[#1]

I connect to my plusnet email account using windows live mail, pop3.
just now it has downloaded a complete duplicate set of all emails in my inbox - 375 of them.
i think there's a problem at the PN end ...

[#2]

Are those 375 emails new(ish)? i.e. how far back do they go? Whilst we're having mail collection problems at the moment, I'm struggling to understand how this could have happened!

[#3]

and here

Quote from: paulBG

Matt, It's doing it again - as I speak my Outlook is downloading duplicates of 799 previously downloaded messages totally over 150Mb. What's happening today? Cheers Paul

[#4]

the oldest one is 15/02/ 2007, Bob ... it's simply every single email I still have in my inbox, but sent to me for a second time.
If I look at the webmail.plus.com interface, no duplicates

[#5]

Thanks Paul(s).
Interested to know whether or not anybody else has just seen this?

[#6]

Thanks for linking me to this, Bob.
This is what PN said last time it happened:-
<<I'm afraid this is down to the email issues we had and how the recovery scripts had to be in order to move the mail across to the new platform. Sorry about the hassle, unfortunately there's nothing we can do about the duplication.
There's more detail on how it all happened on our service status archive - the relevant post is http://usertools.plus.net...us/archive/1292858377.htm ;   >>
I guess they will update us soon - seems very similar indeed.
Cheers

[#7]

I'm familiar with what happened last time Paul. What's different this time is that we can't figure out how this could have happened to you both. I've had somebody check the filesystem/logs for both of your mailboxes and we're still scratching our heads?
I've asked the support centre to give me a shout if they field any tickets/calls from customers reporting the same problems.
Interestingly, the first two letters of your usernames (TLK) are the same. Your mail is also on the same back-end file systems.

[#8]

Quote from: Bob

Interestingly, the first two letters of your usernames (TLK) are the same.

que?

[#9]

Quote from: paulh

Quote from: Bob Interestingly, the first two letters of your usernames (TLK) are the same. que?

Both you and @paulBG have usernames that start with the same two letters. Both of you have mail stored on the same filer. Both of you have had all of your POP3 mail duplicated. Coincidence?

[#10]

sorry Bob, I should have been more clear - my username doesn't start with TLK, but perhaps you are using a TLA of which I do not the meaning know?

[#11]

Sorry Paul, I should have been clearer.
TLK = Two Letter Key i.e. the first two letters of your username.

[#12]

Isn't this just a standard consequence of having a POP3 mail client set to leave the messages on the server? Any hiccup  on the mail sever and the client forgets which messages it has already downloaded and downloads everything on the server again.
If you want to leave emails on the server as a backup or so that they are accessible via webmail you should use IMAP not POP3.

[#13]

You mean. jelv, it is the natural consequence of a failure on the part of the ISP to manage the mailserver in such a way as to meet the requirements of the relevant RFC ... I have numerous POP3 accounts, and have had them for a number of years ... I choose to manage them in the way I do (which lies within the RFC) , and it is up to the ISP to manage the mailserver in such a way as to permit that ... it is not an answer to a failure on PN's part to say to the end user "use it differently" ... or to blame it on the client software

[#14]

I have seen nothing as yet to suggest that Plusnet have failed to meet the RFC requirements - please explain in technical terms exactly how you think they have failed.

[#15]

Quote from: jelv

If you want to leave emails on the server as a backup or so that they are accessible via webmail you should use IMAP not POP3.

Correct me if I'm wrong (& I confess I know very little about IMAP), but I don't think it's quite as clear cut as that.
Presumably the provider of the IMAP server puts a limit on the amount of space allocated to each account. Your total mail store is thus constrained by this limit.
If you have a POP3 account normally configured to leave mail on the server, you can use it as a backup of recent mail & also enable it to be downloaded by a number of separately located clients. Periodically (possibly as you approach your account capacity limit), you can make an additional, secure, off-site archive of your mail & clear down the server, ready to start the cycle over again. Your POP3 client will store mail for far longer than your provider is likely to allow if you have a lot of email traffic.