Mail Server???

[LakLar]

I am curious about thoughts on what mail server I should install and use?

I work for a small ISP and do small admin stuff like add Virtual Domains and configure them for Qmail, But I am new to the FRESH install of *nix O/S's.

I am trying to setup a RH 7.1 Server to host one MAYBE 2 domains. I will be the only one with access to my server except for people viewing my web sites.

So far I have been able to setup Apache, FTP, Telnet, and Samba (for local Network), but I would like to have some advice on a good EASY email server to install.

Any Ideas?

[Craig McPherson]

The first decision you need to make is what protocols you're going to be using. Obviously, you'll need SMTP. So you'll have to choose an SMTP server program. Do you want POP3? You'll need to pick a POP3 server, too. Do you want POP3-SSL? Make sure you pick a POP3 server that supports SSL. IMAP? Pick an IMAP daemon, or pick a POP3 daemon that also has IMAP support. Do you want a webmail interface? There are a number to choose from.

You have a lot of choices, but to be honest, most of them aren't terribly critical: every modern, popular SMTP server has basically the same feature set and functionality as every other. People will have their favorites (usually the one they used first -- I like Exim, for example), but it really doesn't matter all that much -- they really do work basically the same way.

I personally would advise staying away from Sendmail due to the bizarre configuration and the bad security track record. Exim, Qmail, and Postfix are good choices. Pick the one that you like.

Now, about the "Virtual Domaining". The easiest thing to do is not do any "virtual e-mail domaining" at all -- just list every domain as a local domain in your SMTP server's configuration. bob@domain1.com will go to the same mailbox as bob@domain2.com. If you want root@domain1.com to go to a different mailbox as root@domain2.com, you can use a simple alias for that -- there's no need to use any "virtual domaining" for such a setup. It'll work fine if you keep it simple.

The many POP3 daemons are (mostly) identical to each other, so it doesn't really matter which one you pick. Some have IMAP build in, which means you don't need a seperate IMAP daemon if you want IMAP. Some have POP3-SSL (which I use), or some of the other "secure POP3" protocols (which I know nothing about). Some try to be really elaborate and annoying by forcing you to set up seperate password files for them -- avoid those and find one that just works. I use IPop3d.

If you're looking for a free webmail system, Neomail is only one I've used, but I like it. Technically, it's quite solid, pretty simple, and reasonably featureful. It looks a little bit ugly, but if you like doing art, you can replace all the images with your own and "brand" it to your site.

I hope this gives you some ideas. Please post back if you have any questions or concerns.