hi..!! i was just told to have an email server in our system. and i dont know what email program would i use for our server. can anyone help me or can suggest me what mail server will i use? am just using windows XP. sorry :( .
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hi..!! i was just told to have an email server in our system. and i dont know what email program would i use for our server. can anyone help me or can suggest me what mail server will i use? am just using windows XP. sorry :( .
what does your network look like right now? Do you have any other servers running? If so what kind, what OS? What does your budget look like? Do you already have a server you can use for the email program or do you need to purchase that too?
These are all things that have to be considered before anything can be suggested or considered.
thank you for the reply. my network does have a 50 workstations and its kind of ok. no other servers running. we dont have any mail server and i think if we can, if, the office can, we have to purchase a server. what other minimanl things u'd suggest having a mail server?
what do i need inorder to setup a mail server? what things (software/hardware) to consider setting up mail server?
depending on your budget i would look at microsoft exchange server
http://www.microsoft.com/exchange/default.mspx
Very popular and very good server. There are some linux solutions out there too but I am not familiar with them. Exchange would be a great solution since it sounds like you have a windows environment. Setting up this server is going to require work and security too.
spyrus makes a good recomendation. exchange might be the easiest large scale server for the not-so-trchnically inclined to use.
/me shudders at the security implications of his last statement
Checkout MDaemon (http://www.altn.com). IMHO, the very best out there for Windows. And the support is awesome as well.
[EDIT]
Also, if I understand M$ licensing scheme, Exchange would cost $699 + $67 per user. 50 users = $4049
MDaemon Pro 50 users = $660
[/EDIT]
I would suggest looking at the MS Small Business Server.2003..which has the exchange sever, IIS, Share point...
Lots of wizards for newbies...although I would also suggest get a pro to set it up and good hardware (Dell PE) lots of ram and hardware raid.
Also depending on your needs...you can get the Premium edition and add ISA and MS SQL to it.
I have 2 sites with this set up..and I can manage them remotely.
Has lots of wizards for the non techie for basic management...
the SBS 2003 it a great improvement from the previous versions.
IMHO...of course :D
MLF
I am currently running Merak mail server by Icewarp on a windows server. It handles pop3 and smtp simply and the manual is very good.
We started out using outlook on each machine. When our ISP went out of business we found out that we were unable to communicate with each other internally. We installed Merak to solve that problem. What we found over time was that our IP was being blacklisted because we fit the profile of a spammer due to our setup. We were using a web collection server at the domain and collecting from one address but allowing our mail server to e-mail out directly. We have since changed this setup to send and receive through our ISP. We now only use the mail server to help filter spam. Having since moved away from outlook for *many* good reasons.
I don't why your company is installing a mail server but there may be better solutions depending on what you are wanting to accomplish.
Falcis
No offense here, but this guy doesn't know a whole lot about 1. His network 2. mail technologies and 3. even if he has a firewall and probably doesn't know what kind of internet connection is there. At present I would guess your mail server would just become another spam zombie within a few hours.
You need to map that out first my friend. I am guessing you are tossed in here because you want to learn. Do your self a favor. Outsource first, learn your network and then gradually move it in house. If you don't have a server how are those 50 machines connected to the internet? Is the internet router doing DHCP, that is giving out IP addresses or are they static? How do you share files, peer to peer? You will have to open a port on your firewall and ensure ANY server is locked down. You will need static IP addresses. Do you have critical files on those 50 PCs if so then you will have to provide some kind of DMZ or safety zone to protect them.
I ask all this because you can get gobs of mail accounts for pennies and not host a thing. And thus take on no risk of internal penetration Hell I'll sell you some. :D But that depends on how sensitive your mail is. If it is highly sensitive, you will want some internal server to handle internal mail and only direct outgoing mail to the internet. What do you use now for messaging? I gather nothing or yahoo accounts etc?
I agree with RoadClosed. If you don't have a domain name already, go register with a hosting company that will host your e-mail. You'll usually get an easy to use web interface to administer the mail accounts. In your situation, I would only consider an internal mail server if there is concern over very sensitive material.
Save yourself a headache and keep it simple.
If you want a mail server running on your (XP) system you will not be able to use Exchange server from Microsoft.Quote:
Originally posted here by kagawad
hi..!! i was just told to have an email server in our system. and i dont know what email program would i use for our server. can anyone help me or can suggest me what mail server will i use? am just using windows XP. sorry :( .
www.ipswitch.com can sell you IMail for Windows which I have used in the past with great success.
The free version of Mail Enable for windows is great for small orgs just getting started with
email.
www.mailenable.com
I you are still considering I would like to add Kerio Mail server to your options
http://www.kerio.com/kms_home.html
Quote:
Kerio MailServer is a super-fast secure multiple domain mail server working with all POP3 and IMAP desktop mail clients for Windows, Linux and Mac.
It does have a price tag on it (http://www.kerio.com/kms_price.html).Quote:
Kerio MailServer™ represents a new generation of mail servers designed for corporate networks. To help combat increasing security threats, Kerio MailServer™ offers a wide range of features to keep email from being intercepted, infected by computer viruses, or sent as spam.
It has a trial edition (test it before you buy it).
http://www.kerio.com/kms_download.html
CheeriosQuote:
Kerio MailServer runs on Windows 2000/XP/2003, server and desktop editions, Red Hat Linux, SUSE Linux and Mac OS X. Kerio Outlook Connector for Microsoft Outlook runs on Windows 2000/XP/2003
noodle
So far in this conversation, other than RoadClosed, everyone is missing some serious considerations in this person's problem....
Hosting your own mailserver isn't just a matter of throwing a mailserver on a server and saying "You've got Mail"....
There's a few other considerations other than "will it allow relaying"....
1. Do you have a registered domain.... This is really important....
2. Do you have a pair, (notice _two_), of DNS servers or people to host your DNS/MX records
3. Does your ISP give you a fixed or rotating IP Address, (this depends on your ISP too).
Without those three _basic_ things you will never get an email in your life.
Kagawad:
Without those basics you can take all the previous advice and throw it away.....
However, SS2chef recommended a nice little, free, mailserver that I use for my home mailserver... Mail Enable.... I like it, it's easy to set up, (well, I found it easy but I have a few other mail servers I have set up in the past). It will work nicely for your situation.... But you need the other prerequisites first or you will be wasting your time.....
this was a reply for RoadClosed,
yes, you are right i dont know about mail technologies. but i do know about my network. but not that knowledgeable like you do. i wont start my mail server unless i get the appropriate security and correct configuration of a mail server. yes my router is doing a DHCP on the networks and some of the workstations here doesnt start without ip address assigned. short for a problem on my network - we have to assign ip addresses even though it is already on a DHCP for the computer to have network and internet connection.
firewall?
I wasn't attacking ya, just trying to help - I have fixed wayyy too many Zombies and when your mail server goes **** up you won't look too good. ;) Why not outsource it, the cost is minimal..... have a look:
Network Solutions
Net Solutions isn't my favorite company in the world, in fact they are down under a mossy rock... but they will register your domain and host the email site for you. You just connect. Then as you work out your network problems, verify the capabilities of your firewall and draw up a diagram to secure it, you can move the domain off to something cheaper. But hey considering the cost of a server and maning some security outpost, 30 buck a month is not bad at all, and you get 100 mailboxes, and all you have to do is point your email clients at mail.mydomain.com.
If you want to build an email server you will need all the things mentioned above.
roadclosed has it right.
my main question is how did you get given this task kagawad? who gave the order, and why?
I would look at the http://www.BorderWare.com product line. They have product that will be a secure email firewall as well as a secure POP/IMAP server.