Setting up a email server

[DoOLiE11]

i was wondering if anyone had some good sites or reccomendations for setting up a relatively cheap windows based email server?

the email server will just be used for the hosting of a few email address for a personal website of my roomates and mine.

what i wanted to know is the cost, how hard, and i guess what different methods or solutions that there are.

 

[neopipil]

DoOLiE11, setting up an email server is fairly simple. I have done this in the past. I can assure you that you can have this up and running in under 10 minutes.

You have already made the choice as to what OS you are going to use. Now you have to make a choice as to which email server software to use.

The easisiest and quickest choice is to use the freeware version of Argosoft's email server, http://www.argosoft.com/applications/mailserver .

Another mail server which has been recommended to me by friend has been Mercury Mail, http://www.pmail.com/overviews/ovw_mercury.htm .

neopipil

 

[HJB417]

+1 for argosoft, the webmail feature is cool too. get a free domain from www.dyndns.org or something and you're set in terms of a static email server.

 

[Workin']

Mercury/32 is completely free for any use. It's been working great for me.

 

[AKA]

Argosoft is definitely easy to setup and use.

Buy a domain if you haven't already.
Then you sign up with someone for DNS services.. so that any lookup of your domain for MX records will point to the IP address of your email server.

Helps if you have a static IP but not critical.

You will also want to sign up with someone to use as a backup email server incase your connection or computer is down.

I recommend easyDNS.com for your DNS & Backup Email (only $19.95 a year) .. if your connection goes down all email directed to your domain will go to them and spool on their servers which will keep checking your email server to send it back to you when it comes back online.

Here is an example of an ArgoSoft mail server The Webmail feature of it.