Mail server behind an ISP's POP3/SMTP server?

[Biggs]

Would this scenario work?

Let's say I have a server PC running a mail server software(i.e. IMail) which connects via POP3 to its ISP(i.e. Earthlink) every couple of minutes to check/receive mails. Clients on the local LAN are using e-mail clients(i.e. Netscape Messenger) that are configured to point to the server PC's IP address for them to be able to send/receive mails. Also, all clients are using a single e-mail address(i.e. company@earthlink.com).

Thanks.

 

[Fuzznuts]

yes this setup is very common indeed as long as you isp email account is a catchall account it will work fine. i prefer to use fetchmail , sendmail combo myself of course if you have no linux box then you way will work too

oops reread your post. you need a catchall account for *@domain.com to work. get a doamin with a hosted pop3 catchall account THEN youll be able to do what your after. i have serveral domains doing what you need and the cost £18 for 2 yrs so its no expensive to setup.

if you leave it as you current setup ie company@earthlink.com then only one person will be able to use that address a catchall will pass control form the isp to your mail server with regards to accounts.

 

[Biggs]

Erm, what do you mean by a catchall account?

 

[Fuzznuts]

a catchall acount is just that it will CATCH ALL emails to a domain into one mailbox

eg say you had mail account for fred@domain.com if it was a catchall any mail for any address at domain .com would goto that mail box. ie test@domain.com info@domain.com would all be delivered to the fred@domain.com box.

you then setup you mail server imail of fecthmail etc to pull the mail out of that account the distribuiton to individual mailboxes is then done on your server giving you total control of all mail lists and accounts etc.

does this clear it up for ya?

 

[Biggs]

Crystal.

Follow-up question, if someone sent an email to our account, company@earthlink.com, it would be initally kept at our ISP's mail server. Now, how do I configure IMail to retrieve that mail?

Is it possible for the PC running the mail server software(i.e. IMail) to retrieve mails from a POP3 server(i.e. Earthlink) so that the clients could just set their POP to the server PC's IP? Likewise, for their SMTP string.

Note that we don't have any registered domain or a DNS server.

 

[Fuzznuts]

why would you want to do this with only 1 email address that is not a catchall you cannot share it everyone will get the same e-mail making the whole exercise pointless.

what exaclty are you trying to achieve?

as it stands imail or not you have one email address thats all you can use, putting imail in the middle will give you no advantage what so ever.

 

[Biggs]

My end result is to create a "common e-mail" that everyone would use. If you're familiar with OutlookFolders and Public Outlook -- they allow the sharing of a common mailbox for multiple users, then this is what I'm trying to do. I know this is possible using the IMAP on the IMail server, yes?

 

[wlee]

My company does Email exactly like that. I have a "catch all" mailbox setup with my ISP. From there my mail server picks up the mail, parses it, and distributes to everones individual mailbox. Their local email client SW then picks up from the internal server. I makes sending/receiving large attachments "feel" VERY fast to the user since they all have 100Mbit connect to it. From there the mail server will transfer at whatever bandwidth is avail. Keeps things very "transparent" to the end user. The software I use is mdaemon. It specifically supports this type of local/isp mail transfer.

 

[Fuzznuts]

Originally posted by: Biggs
My end result is to create a "common e-mail" that everyone would use. If you're familiar with OutlookFolders and Public Outlook -- they allow the sharing of a common mailbox for multiple users, then this is what I'm trying to do. I know this is possible using the IMAP on the IMail server, yes?

I dont know ive never done it. personally i think it would be much easier to spend the few extra £££ and get a domain and catchall and do it properly. your making a rod for your own back trying to share 1 address between x people. I find it hard to believe a company that can afford I-mail cant pay the one oof payment of £20 ($37'ish). not only will it make your job easier but will seem more professional to have a proper domain name rather than @earthlink.net.

sorry i cant help on the IMAP thing i've never heard of it done

 

[Biggs]

Fuzznuts, well, the reason "behind" the "common mailbox" requirement is to allow anyone to know everyone's mails thus allowing better efficiency. Anyway, many thanks for the replies, you've been a great help.

Wlee, I'll give Mdaemon a shot. Thanks.