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Best mail server setup
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Best mail server setup

rzlostyrzlosty Member
edited April 2014 in Help

Hey guys,

As Google Apps has stopped and Microsoft are now getting rid of their version I am wanting to set up my own mail server.

I quite like the look of IRedMail simply because its free and simple to install. I have a few questions for those with more experience!

  • Is IRedMail a good choice for a beginner, if not what would you recommend thats free? (scripts/mailserver software not prehosted).
  • What would be the ideal spec for a mailserver to handle say... 10-30 mailboxes of medium use (i.e. 5GB space, 1000 emails per month). I read on the IRedMail site that they recommend 1GB RAM for production use, but what would you go with to make sure i have enough room to grow?
  • Do i need more than 1 IP address to run a mail server?
  • Any suggestions who to go with for the server its self? I live in the UK so any UK providers are a bonus, otherwise what part of the US/Europe would be best for me (My budget is $5 really but can stretch to $7 for the real deal!).

Thanks in advance :)

Will

Comments

  • I'd highly recommend a managed, free service like Mandrillapp. Their free plan comes with 300-500 emails a day, fully managed. SSL/TLS & regular SMTP offered.

  • tomletomle Member, LIR

    Mandrill is not so good if you also want to accept incoming emails and hold them in a mailbox accessable by IMAP/POP3. Have a look at IRedMail and see if it suits you, 1GB should be enough for your needs.

    Thanked by 1rzlosty
  • viCommunications said: I'd highly recommend a managed, free service like Mandrillapp. Their free plan comes with 300-500 emails a day, fully managed. SSL/TLS & regular SMTP offered.

    Mandrill only does outgoing though doesnt it? I want my own version of Gmail for my family if you will.

    tomle said: Mandrill is not so good if you also want to accept incoming emails and hold them in a mailbox accessable by IMAP/POP3. Have a look at IRedMail and see if it suits you, 1GB should be enough for your needs.

    Ah okay, I'm planning on giving it a try - are you able to answer any of my other questions?

    Cheers :)

  • NyrNyr Community Contributor, Veteran
    edited April 2014

    iRedMail includes pretty much all you will need, but maybe you have a problem with using greylisting which is the default on iRedMail to filter spam. Other useful things for spam prevention like outright filtering using RBLs or bayesian filters aren't enabled by default with iRedMail.

    Anyway iRedMail is nearly the only acceptable choice for a beginner, so go with them and then tweak the setup to your needs.

    512MB of RAM are enough for your needs with the iRedMail stack. Even 256 with some swap would do, but go with 512 since virus scanning is resource intensive.

    You only need one IP address. If you are European, get an European server.

    Thanked by 1rzlosty
  • @viCommunications said:
    I'd highly recommend a managed, free service like Mandrillapp. Their free plan comes with 300-500 emails a day, fully managed. SSL/TLS & regular SMTP offered.

    +1 for Mandrillapp. Their plans are cheap if you want to send more than 12,000 emails p/m

  • edited April 2014

    said: What would be the ideal spec for a mailserver to handle say... 10-30 mailboxes of medium use (i.e. 5GB space, 1000 emails per month). I read on the IRedMail site that they recommend 1GB RAM for production use, but what would you go with to make sure i have enough room to grow?

    Do i need more than 1 IP address to run a mail server?

    I have 3 mailboxes, about 2-2GB each, about 500 email a month on a 128MB RAM VPS @ BuyVM with a single IP. It runs postfix+dovecot+spamassassin+hastymail2. You'd get by easily with 10-30 mailboxes and 1k emails/month on a 512MB RAM box.

    Thanked by 1rzlosty
  • FrankZFrankZ Veteran
    edited April 2014

    OP, you can fit a mail server on some 512MB VPS, but that is right on the edge. I would go with 768MB-1GB if you do not wish virus scanners to blow out sometimes when scanning. IMO, a proper inbound mail server should have virus and spam scanning. You may also wish to have an outbound mail relay (smart host). You can use a relay service or get a second VPS with 64-128mb to use as the outbound mail relay. This way your inbound mail IP is safe from blacklisting and ... other provider issues

    EDIT: Crissic's openVZ 512MB is the only 512MB that I have found that runs my mailstack without problems. Every 1GB VPS runs the stack without any tweeking. Just saying..

    Thanked by 1rzlosty
  • Just to tweak the question a little (not intending to hijack), I have half a dozen tops mailboxes in a postfix/(dovecot|courier) setup. Would be good to hear more about anti-spam programs being used and also how resource intensive they can be.

  • FrankZFrankZ Veteran
    edited April 2014
    to the boxes of IN and others unnamed 
    go the Devils of Spam, reckless, untamed 
    and Nematode warriors bound to the MIME
    some parasitic and others benign 
    but waylayed and lo, their mission deterred 
    with Scanners of Mail properly interred 
    and the daemons of POP and Old 25 
    at the end of battle they stand and survive 
    and thick as flies the messages thrash 
    as their headers are flagged, "SPAMFILTERED" for trash 
    though, try as they might, when cut short in their flight 
    they cannot escape Mailscanner's sharp bite 
    So to Admins whose living depends upon mail 
    without MailScanning tools you will miserably fail 
    avoid the Devil and countless Nematode sprees 
    by installing MailScanner in your init.d 
    

    By Les Jones


    A bit dated, but simple and good.

    Thanked by 2ricardo 0xdragon
  • you could go with an Office 365 K plan - Full Outlook Web Access and Mobile Phone access and 1GB mailboxes for about $2/month/user. You can upgrade your own to E1 for a full 50gb mailbox access with public folder support, outlook support etc for $4.40month. Those are $AUD prices so may vary a bit in your location. In Aus we can purchase on monthly subscriptions and vary it month to month...

    Thanked by 1rzlosty
  • iredmail is fine, just make sure you disable greylisting and remove spamhaus-bullshit.

    Thanked by 1rzlosty
  • I am using Hmail on windows server with spam assassin set up on Linux.

    Thanked by 1rzlosty
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