How difficult is it to run your own email server?

[Mark Phillips]

On Fri, 2007-10-05 at 12:32 -0700, Mike Garfias wrote:
> I agree with everything Darrin wrote, but would add a few things:
> 
> On Debian, its all very easy.  Make sure you have your apt sources  
> set to download from the security tree, and update it somewhat  
> frequently.

That is why I love Debian!

> Use Postfix/Dovecot - not only are they easy to setup, but they have  
> a good reputation for security 

I am leaning that way, except qmailtoaster looks interesting.

> (The dovecot guys will even pay you if  
> you find an exploit in their code).

Great! However, I will probably keep my day job until the check comes
in. ;-)
> 
> 
> On Oct 5, 2007, at 8:50 AM, Darrin Chandler wrote:
> 
> > On Fri, Oct 05, 2007 at 08:36:55AM -0700, Mark Phillips wrote:
> >> 1. How difficult is it to maintain am email server?
> >> A couple of articles/forums recommend using a third party for email
> >> since keeping an email server secure is hard and a takes lots of  
> >> time.
> >> Keeping on top of all the types of attacks and exploits people  
> >> come up
> >> with, and then install patches to prevent them from taking over your
> >> server and using it for nefarious activities is a full time job.  
> >> Is this
> >> true?
> >
> > For your needs it is NOT a full time job. If you spend some time  
> > picking
> > the tools you'll use and then check the history of the distro to  
> > see how
> > well they maintain those packages you'll probably see that keeping  
> > up to
> > date is not too hard.
> >
> >> 2. What combinations of MTA, MDA, MUA's do people use?
> >> I have run across several articles that combine Postfix, Courier or
> >> Dovecot, and SquirrelMail or Qmail, MySQL, ClamAV, and SpamAssassin.
> >> Which is better (i.e. easier to install & maintain) Courier or  
> >> Dovecot?
> >> What other combinations are better? How much time does it take to  
> >> keep
> >> all these pieces secure?
> >
> > You're opening a can of worms. There are people using all manner of
> > software in various combinations. Some will tell you horror stories
> > about whatever they're not using. And the worst part is it's all true
> > and everyone is right.
> >
> > That being said, I believe dovecot is easier out of the box than
> > courier.
> >
> >> 3. How much hardware do I need?
> >> I plan on using the funambol server for syncing the blackberry,  
> >> and that
> >> requires a P4, 1.8 GHz, 200 MB disk space, and 512 MB of RAM. How  
> >> much
> >> more do I need for email? Could my email server fit on the same  
> >> machine
> >> or a separate machine? The funambol server is a J2EE application  
> >> (tomcat
> >> & mysql) (http://www.funambol.com/).
> >
> > For a few users your hardware needs will be quite modest. That  
> > depends a
> > lot on what all you put in the chain. SpamAssassin + ClamAV + whatever
> > will use a lot more resources. If you can use greylisting then that  
> > will
> > block most of the spam up front and allow you to use a heavier email
> > stack on the back end.
> >
> > General advice: running a small email server is not a full time job  
> > and
> > is entirely practical. But it's not a decision to be taken lightly. It
> > will involve a fair amount of time to learn your way around, get  
> > all the
> > pieces working together, make sure you're not allowing relaying, etc.,
> > etc. After you get everything working you really, really need to  
> > keep up
> > to date with patches. Keeping up to date is not hard, and not time
> > consuming, but it must be done. IOW, this is a small committment,  
> > but it
> > IS a committment.
> >
> > -- 
> > Darrin Chandler            |  Phoenix BSD User Group  |  MetaBUG
> > dwchandler at stilyagin.com   |  http://phxbug.org/      |  http:// 
> > metabug.org/
> > http://www.stilyagin.com/  |  Daemons in the Desert   |  Global BUG  
> > Federation
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