Question Backup MX

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Question Backup MX

10
4
NAS
DS918+, DS214se
Operating system
  1. Windows
Hi
I am new on here, and this is my first post, so go gentle with me. I have had a good search and can't find the answer on here already.

I was wondering if anyone on here, who uses the MailPlus server also uses a Backup MX service to catch mail when there NAS becomes unavailable. I have been using MailPlus for a while now, and use dynu.com as my Backup MX service, but I am not that enamoured by the service and was looking for recommendations for other services.
Being UK based I like the idea of using someone like ccsleeds.co.uk or yorkukhosting.co.uk but I was also drawn the the offer by dnsexit.com as it includes the ability to read mails by webmail when my server is down (so if I am away from home and there is a long powercut I can still get my mail).

An alternative backup solution would be to use my backup NAS (DS214se) which is at my folks house and currently does a HyperBackup of the data on my DS918+. I cant run MailPlus server on the DS214se which was the main reason for thinking it would not be suitable, but would it be possible to run it as a backup mail server using the standard Mail Server that is available on that NAS?

Thanks for any info and advice

Phil
 
Hi Phil,

Welcome to the forum.
Unfortunately, not many mail users here. I think you’re one step ahead of us (me) with what you’re doing :)

What if you run Mail Server on the backup server and configure a higher preference for its MX record so it’ll be picked up in case the lower preference server (the main one) is not available?

Check backup MX in this wiki. Seems straight forward.
 
My home mail setup is my primary mail service is with Fasthosts and then I forward mail to my home NAS for archiving. I'm using Mail Server and Mail Station.

I used to run a Mac Mini server as primary and used Fasthosts as the initial SMTP server for the domain. Since they got better for anti-spam, and the kids got older, it's been good enough to use FH as the main mail service.
 
Hi Phil,

Welcome to the forum.
Unfortunately, not many mail users here. I think you’re one step ahead of us (me) with what you’re doing :)

What if you run Mail Server on the backup server and configure a higher preference for its MX record so it’ll be picked up in case the lower preference server (the main one) is not available?

Check backup MX in this wiki. Seems straight forward.

Hi

Thanks for your reply. I think I was led a bit by all the Synology documentation about setting up redundant mail systems which is all about setting up a SHA (Synology High Availability) cluster, which needs identical machines. But thinking about it, I may be able to do what you suggest, put vanilla Mail Server on the 214se and have a higher cost MX pointing to it. Then use ETRN to get the mail from that server back to the 918+ once it came back online. It looks like I may also have the benefit of getting webmail access to my mail on the 214se while the 918+ is offline.
I will look into going down this route and report back on here once I get it working well.

Cheers

Phil
 
The reply that I got from Synology support was

Thank you for contacting Synology.

It would not be possible with Mail Station, however, if you had 2 devices on the same network both running Mailplus (in a cluster), then this would be possible.

May I ask what would cause the DS918+ to go offline? As if it's the network going down, for example, this would also affect the other unit, as they both need to be on the same network in a Mailplus cluster.

which was a bit rubbish, see what I mean about pushing you towards clustering. I am trying to find the userguides/manuals for Mail Server and MailServer Plus now as I am pretty sure they must both support ETRN so it should be possible, but I am really struggling to find them on the Synology site. does anyone else struggle to navigate their KB?
 
Hi,
I’m using Mailplus server, and as a backup server I’m using google G-Suite.
I’ve setup my MX record with a higher preference to my mailplus server and a lower preference to google. So if my Mailplus server is down all of my mail are served at google. Then I’ve setup fetchmail for all the mail accounts to fetch the mail that is delivered to google.

I’m using this setup for a few years now and it never failed me.
 
Update 1 year on:

I never managed to setup my 214se to work as a backup mail server. Issues with getting port 25 to work on a BT connection, and it being located at my parents house, which is 1000 miles away from me, so fiddling with their router is not something I can do frequently.

However I did change over to DNS Exit as a backup MX provider, and I have to say, the service so far has been great. My connection at home has gone down a few times and there has been no issue with the storing and retreival of the mail. And that option to use thier webmail to check my stored mail while I am trying to get my mail server back up and running is really useful.

Thumbs up to DNSExit

Cheers

Phil
 

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