Setting up an email web server? on NAS

[Gunman]

Hello there guys/girls!
Recently I bought Synology 1821 and I would like to setup locally the email of my bought domain. I am going to launch an Eccomerse site and I would like to have an email like [email protected]

I haven't yet researched the capabilities of NAS as atm I am in the process of renovation and I won't setup it for the coming 1-2 months.

I would like to ask something regarding mail server.

Do I need to have a static IP address in order to setup "properly" a local mail server or not?

I am asking this because recently I watched a YouTube video and the guy was stating that if you don't have an static IP address, usually your email will end up recognized as spam from the possible recipients.

Today I setup my internet connection, and I would like to know this please.

Any help, appreciated!!

Thank you

 

[busko002]

You need a static ip (with reverse dns) or you need to use a smtp relay server. Very often you can use your isp’s server.

 

[Gunman]

Should I ask specifically if it also has reverse DNS?
I haven't researched yet what an smtp relay server is.
I want to store emails locally in case I change provider or something, or I am missing a point here?
Should I ask them anything else you think?

Thanks a lot for helping mate

 

[busko002]

You need to be al or to change your ptr record. Your isp knows what this is.

 

[Gunman]

I will ask them if they have PTR record function. (didnt understand the al part) thanks a lot guys!

 

[akahan]

Most ISPs make efforts to prevent you from doing what you want to do; they block port 25, they won't set a PTR record for you, etc. If you want to run your own email server, you're better off getting a Synology rackstation and putting it in a local colocation center, which will not block any ports, will give you a fixed IP adderss, and will have more stable power and internet than you will likely have at home.

Keep in mind that if your email server goes down, you can't send or receive emails on any accounts for which it's the server. So if your power at home goes out, or your internet service has an outage, you can't even send or receive emails on your cel phone - at least not on any accounts supported by your email server. Do you really want to set yourself up for that stress?

 

[EAZ1964]

My experience is that it is both cheaper and more robust to do mail externally at a commercial hosting provider.
For 50$/year: 25 mailboxes, including 2 domains and mail archiving, I’d prefer not to do it myself.

 

[akahan]

To follow up on @EAZ1964 - there is NO rational reason I can think of to host your own mail server. You'd only do it because you think it's FUN to run your own mail server, or you want to learn firsthand how mail servers work, or maybe you are suspicious of all the hosting companies because you think there is some gigantic conspiracy to steal and read your thrilling email.

There is NO WAY that hosting your own mail server is going to be more reliable or cheaper than than having it hosted at a commercial hosting provider, as @EAZ1964 points out.

My point is just that trying to do so from home is going to be a disaster and, if you're going to do it at all, your server should be at a colocation center.

 

[Telos]

A contrarian might ask why then does Synology offer Mail Plus server to SOHO users?

 

[akahan]

I assume because it's a feature that many customers think they want? "Give them what they want, even though they probably shouldn't want it." And I'm glad to have it...but I use it in a colocation center.

 

[fredbert]

I would tend to agree on the above advice.

I have in the past run my own mail services, relying on sending from my SMTP server via my ISPs. But when the mail database corrupted or something goes wrong it was lots of pain. That was on Mac OS X Server which I stopped doing around 6 years ago.

My ISP does allow sending out and receiving on TCP port 25 but we used to have some issues getting the mail received. Adding SPF records to my domain have helped, but nowadays the only outbound mail from Mail Server is DSM/SRM notification mails that are intended to come back to my primary domain email (using an email service provider). There is a recommendation to use a static IP address, but you can try using MX records referencing CNAME not A records.

You may find that using an email service provider with your own domain will be more reliable and the cost will offset your time in maintaining it.

 

[Gunman]

I don't have in mind any conspiracy at all guys, I just wanted all the archive on my disks in order not to rely on a specific host in case I want to change domain name provider.
Maybe I have this faulsy in my mind, I will have to see what I want... Thanks for the feedback guys

 

[fredbert]

That’s similar to what I do: run Mail Server on a secondary domain and forward mail to it from my email provider that’s using my primary domain.

In this situation I don’t use Mail Server to send out mail but it keeps an archive.

 

[akahan]

I don't have in mind any conspiracy at all guys, I just wanted all the archive on my disks in order not to rely on a specific host in case I want to change domain name provider.
Maybe I have this faulsy in my mind, I will have to see what I want... Thanks for the feedback guys

Hosting is independent of domain name provider, and email provider. You can mix’n’match.

 

[Gunman]

That’s similar to what I do: run Mail Server on a secondary domain and forward mail to it from my email provider that’s using my primary domain.

In this situation I don’t use Mail Server to send out mail but it keeps an archive.

Will have to study what you do because I am bit newbie to all those things maybe I pm you one day, thanks a lot

Thanks a lot Akahan too

 

[strikes2k]

I run my own e-mail server on Synology, but I work in I.T., am a privacy freak, and trust myself more than anyone else when it comes to my systems. That being said, I agree with everyone above that unless you have a reason to do so and the technical knowledge, it's best to outsource it in some way.

As far as wanting to keep the e-mail on your own disks, that's the way it was always done until all these webmail solutions became popular. But I've always kept my own e-mail. Nowadays I use Thunderbird and d/l all the messages to my local computer. Even hosting my own e-mail server I do that. An e-mail server is great for the transport and temporary storage of e-mail but wouldn't be my choice for long term/permanent storage of e-mail I want to keep.

 

[Gunman]

I run my own e-mail server on Synology, but I work in I.T., am a privacy freak, and trust myself more than anyone else when it comes to my systems. That being said, I agree with everyone above that unless you have a reason to do so and the technical k

nowledge, it's best to outsource it in some way.

As far as wanting to keep the e-mail on your own disks, that's the way it was always done until all these webmail solutions became popular. But I've always kept my own e-mail. Nowadays I use Thunderbird and d/l all the messages to my local computer. Even hosting my own e-mail server I do that. An e-mail server is great for the transport and temporary storage of e-mail but wouldn't be my choice for long term/permanent storage of e-mail I want to keep.

Howcome you wouldn't choose mail server for long-term storage?

 

[fredbert]

Howcome you wouldn't choose mail server for long-term storage?

You can do both, why not. The IMAP server storage means you can attach a new device and mail client to search messages. Having copied messages to a local mailbox (or whatever terminology a client uses) can also work, if it's in a transportable format even better.

There's also other ways for using a email service and still having local message retention: inbox rules in you mail client to make a copy of every incoming message to a local mailbox (or private IMAP account, or both). The harder part is automating backups of sent messages, though you can add yourself as BCC and then the inbox rules would work, you could have a separate rule that moves the BCC'ed message when it comes back to you.

The thing I learnt a long time ago is not to rely on the email from my ISP. I moved ISP quite frequently so lost may email accounts, and we had to share a single email account too. As soon as personal domains became easily available I started to use that and then moved to an email service which I pay for.

 

[akahan]

Howcome you wouldn't choose mail server for long-term storage?

For long term storage, I think you can't beat (free) Mailstore Home: MailStore Home - Free Email Archiving for Home Users
It will archive your mail from just about any source (your mail server, gmail, Outlook, etc.) and enables very quick searches. I have over twenty years' of email archived on it, and it's never let me down, gotten corrupted, or given me any trouble whatsoever.

 

[strikes2k]

Howcome you wouldn't choose mail server for long-term storage?

I guess I'd say it depends. My biggest "I'm not doing that" is people who rely on services like gmail or hotmail for their e-mail and think they can just leave everything there forever. Besides potential space limits you may run in to in that scenario, there are also occasions where webmail providers have just decided to delete old e-mail and people lost their data. Not to mention privacy issues. I like being in control of my own data.

Now, on my local Synology? I guess that would be fine as long as I carefully thought out a good backup strategy and understood what I'd need to do in the event of a failure to recover. Not impossible but unnecessary. As I said above I use Thunderbird as an e-mail client. It d/l's the messages from my mail server to my local system. I can then organize things locally. Thunderbird uses separate files for each folder so the databases are separated, which also helps keep sizes down. It's not just one big database storing everything. If one gets corrupted, and I've never had that happen, it shouldn't affect other folders/accounts also housed within Thunderbird.