I'd like to set up a low cost email server just for use by my extended family. The goal would be to centralize all email on a server in my house, and provide POP3 access from that server, as well as a web based interface (similar to web outlook). Can someone recommend a low cost (free?) solution that will do this? I've seen several different products that do this, I was wondering if anyone can recommend one? SSB
Do you mean you want to run the mail server on your own computer at home using free software? I run a mail server and I use Debian based system with Postfix, Spam Assasin, ClamAV, SSH and SASL, Courier IMAP, SquirrelMail and Apache2. These are all free open source. You will need a static IP. You will also need to tell your Internet Provider to do reverse map for you, otherwise many mailer servers will reject mail from your server. If you have never done this, you are in for a huge amount of work. Even if you get it working and you don't understand security, and someone hacks your system, you will be used as an open relay by spammers. nitro
Basically yes, I've seen several products that are supposed to be easy to configure (I'm running windoze). It doesn't have to be free, but I don't want to spend $1000 either.....
I host my own using free software. Postfix, dovecot, postgrey, cyrus SASL, on OpenBSD platform. As nitro said, unless you have experience then you're probably better off paying a web host $2 a month.
This one's good. Cheap too. Runs on Windows easily. The 'Plus' version (the one that would probably work best for your installation needs) is a whopping $49. Totally worth it. http://www.argosoft.com/RootPages/MailServer/Default.aspx
If you have no experience running servers, then setting up email server software on a windows platform is suicide... don't even go there... One option is to install a ready built product onto a seperate pc and use it as a stand alone server... try www.clarkconnect.com a static ip address is required for the server...
Respectfully, it is not suicide to run a Windows platform mail server. It's not like you're running NASA for God's sake. It's just another program and the ArgoSoft one is very easy and very stable. And you do not HAVE to have a static IP for a server, although of course it's preferable. All of the dynamic DNS products will work just fine with a small Windows based email server. You wouldn't run a company's Exchange server like that, but for this guy's personal home based needs, the small stuff is fine.