Delay and Delays in Postfix

Feb 8 12:46:24 relayserver postfix/smtp[21315]: 2vJLYX0Wghz7f3t: to=, relay=91.199.74.14[91.199.74.14]:25, delay=0.09, delays=0.01/0/0.04/0.05, dsn=2.0.0, status=sent (250 2.0.0 Ok: queued as 200698166A)

If we take a look at the example email from above:

The delay parameter (delay=0.09) is fairly self explanatory, it is the total amount of time this email (2vJLYX0Wghz7f3t) has been on this server.
But what is the delays parameter all about?

delays=0.01/0/0.04/0.05

NOTE: Numbers smaller than 0.01 seconds are truncated to 0, to reduce the noise level in the logfile.

You might have guessed it is a break down of the total delay, but what do each number represent?

delays=a/b/c/d:
a=time before queue manager, including message transmission;
b=time in queue manager;
c=connection setup time including DNS, HELO and TLS;
d=message transmission time.

More explanation:

a (0.01): The time before getting to the queue manager, so the time it took to be transmitted onto the mail server and into postfix.
b (0): The time in queue manager, so this email didn’t hit the queues, so it was emailed straight away.
c (0.04): The time it took to set up a connection with the destination mail relay.
d (0.05): The time it took to transmit the email to the destination mail relay.

More information can be found here: http://www.postfix.org/OVERVIEW.html

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