My own private mailserver?

C

Caliante

Hi all,

I've read many times in here 'yeah, I know, I should use my own mail server' and this started to make me think:

1. I mostly use Gmail because of POP3 (my own ISP manages to have each and every mail that I send or that people send to me be bounced, in addition, hotmail has POP3 but it seldom works).
2. I really dislike Google (for obvious reasons) :e
3. So, would it be possible to set up my own mail server? With that I don't mean setting it up on my FreeBSD-box (I am sure with the tutorials I could manage to do that), but: making it work as in actually sending and receiving mails everywhere.

For example, suppose I register 'CalianteFreeBSDnoob.com'. What do I do next? Arrange for some hosting package for my server? Ok, I could understand that. Set up an email server on it? This sounds logically. But: it is my noob understanding that mail servers need to talk to multiple other mail servers in order to send my message to somebody. Can this be arranged? How do I do that?

Because if this works I could simply ditch Gmail and forget having each and every of my mail being indexed and added to their database first :p

As a final remark: I have tried to appear as a complete noob as much as possible; I hope I have succeed and if not, suggestions to improve this are very welcome :e

Thank you,
 
Roughly speaking:
You need to add mx (mail exchange) record in your dns configuration. To this ip other servers will send mail (and some of them will check if this record is valid, to verify if you're not spammer)
Once you setup mx record all you have to do, is configure mail server itself, that it
Frankly it's quite simple...

It is harder to make everything work together (like in my howto)
http://forums.freebsd.org/showthread.php?t=10728

I recommend you to read this:
http://forums.freebsd.org/showthread.php?t=16801
 
More than what killasmurf86 has said, there is the added need for a static IP that can send and receive on port 25. Which in 99 times of a hundred rules out any type of domestic ISP, and the good domestic ISP's don't allow you to send mail other then through their relay server.

If your not to comfortable keeping up with the latest firewall rules, security patches, black hole lists, greylisting etc, I would suggest that you buy some simple web space that includes the possibility of both domain and email on their servers. This is what most of them do today. If you want an "own" server, then start looking in the directons of a VPS/co-location/hosted server solution. But the price generally goes up a lot then.
 
Thanks for the comments :p

Might I add that my preferred way of working is:

Me at home, trying to find my partitions on my FreeBSD-box :)e) -> Online webhoster with my personal mail server <- {Nigerians who tell me I have an aunt over there who has let me 10 million EUR/USD 'though I didn't even knew I have an aunt over there / Viagra sales men promissing me etc?}

This seems like a suitable setup: I use my box strictly as a desktop, meaning: I turn it off when I don't use it (preserver energy/be a good citizen (=& be like Scrooge, hate wasting money :r).

Thanks again ;)
 
^^ hardly understood anything you just wrote.

I wanted to mention, that if you make your PC as mail server you must keep it up and running otherwise you might start loosing mail
 
Caliante said:
For example, suppose I register 'CalianteFreeBSDnoob.com'. What do I do next? Arrange for some hosting package for my server? Ok, I could understand that. Set up an email server on it? This sounds logically. But: it is my noob understanding that mail servers need to talk to multiple other mail servers in order to send my message to somebody. Can this be arranged? How do I do that?
Click to expand...

To add to the comments already on this thread:
  • If you want to serve up your own email services (rather than use an email hosting provider solution), you'll probably want to check out some relatively inexpensive/reliable VPS hosting providers.
  • You will want a static IP address for your host.
  • You will of course need to register DNS (A, PTR, MX) recs, as already mentioned.
  • You will need an SMTP server (I recommend postfix or qmail) to receive mail that should be delivered locally (i.e. to users on your host). It will also include tools to allow you to send mail from users on your host to other SMTP servers.
  • You may want an IMAP/S server (e.g. Dovecot) so that you can download messages that were delivered to users on your host. Alternatively, you may want an IMAP server + webmail (e.g. squirrelmail), for managing user mail from any web browser.

(Might get more complicated from there, depending on your specific needs.)
 
killasmurf86 said:
^^ hardly understood anything you just wrote.

I wanted to mention, that if you make your PC as mail server you must keep it up and running otherwise you might start loosing mail
Click to expand...

Based on your last sentence I am sure your first sentence wasn't a joke :p

What you write is what I wrote in the post above you: I want my mail server with a hosting company because I don't leave my PC on 24 hrs/day; I use it strictly as a desktop: shut it down when I don't use it.
 
Hmm - and thought about taking the money you would need for a server or hosting package and signup at a mail provider that offers you using your own domain ?
Then you can setup your home machine and relay all your local mail through that one
 
rghq said:
Hmm - and thought about taking the money you would need for a server or hosting package and signup at a mail provider that offers you using your own domain ?
Then you can setup your home machine and relay all your local mail through that one
Click to expand...

That indeed might also work; thank you for the suggestion :p

Now, my 'unconsciousness' tells me there is something disadvantage about it, but I don't know what (yet). Let me think about it to so what it comes up with.
 
Most consumer cable/DSL connections, even those with an official fixed IP, are not allowed to run mailservers (either receiving email on your own port 25, or sending email to someone else's port 25), and if the ISPs themselves do not block that type of traffic (an increasing number do), receiving mailservers (like e.g. Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo mail) may refuse to accept email from consumer IP addresses, requiring you to relay outbound email through your ISPs smtp servers. With a business-type cable/DSL IP address you're usually OK.
 
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