home email server? possible?

[stevovo]

I know this must be a very stupid question to almost everyone here but is it possible to host an email server on my home pc?

I already have a small web site running on there (mainly just to view files and to play around) and I created an account at dyndns.org so I can access my web site by typing in some-server.dyndns.org in my browser.

So is it as simple as installing an email server like sendmail or postfix or something on my pc and then configuring it properly and then getting an email address like 'example@some-server.dyndns.org' or is it more complicated and I have to pay company x a bunch of money to setup some special server y that will route this and forward that etc. etc.

I just want to play around with an email server so I can learn how they work. I don't wanna have to actually pay someone to setup the whole shebang

Thanks in advance!

 

[Elvis007]

To start with you need to register your own domain name, and then also get a mx record to point to an static IP, that IP can be your IP or your service provider's IP if they offer mail spooling, but with some providers it will not work as they will not give you a static IP on adsl nor spool your mail for you... it's not impossible, just need to ask your provider what options they have for this...

 

[Asha'man X]

If you are running Windows at the moment, you can use Hmail Server, which is free, and set up a simple mail server that offers SMTP, POP and IMAP access. It will let you learn the basics of how a mail server works. You don't even need access to the net or a real domain name, as you can set up accounts that work locally only, so you can send test mails to yourself.

On the Linux front, there are tons of options, but stay away from Sendmail unless you want grey hairs and a migraine. There are many premade distros that will easily get things set up for you. Ebox, SME Server, ClearOS just to name a few.

 

[Grasmuis]

you can download smartermail and run it on windows xp .

http://www.smartertools.com/smartermail/mail-server-software.aspx

 

[stevovo]

Hmmm, I already have linux so I think I'll play around with that one. Maybe postfix.

Thanks for the ideas.