Mail server on Windows 2008

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ViperGTI

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We've got a dedicated web server running Windows 2008 R2 and recently (well... from a couple of hours ago) I've been looking into options of hosting our own mail server on it. The server is hosted in Jhb and the users are basically from all over the place so I suppose a pop3 mail server or something like that is the way to go?
I don't really know a lot about mail servers or anything like that so advice would be helpful.

Since Win2008 does not have its own pop3 mail server software, I was looking around at 3rd party providers... came across SmarterMail.
- Anybody know anything about it?
- Is it any good?
- Any other recommendations / options?
 
format ... install Linux ... :D
or just install a dedicated Mail server on a old pc laying around.

Don't know about many mail servers that actually work reliably on windows.
 
Linux not an option. We're running a Microsoft server for a reason.
Our website is currently running on a Linux server at a different hosting provider, but since we have a dedicated server, we might as well move our emails and website to it.

Also came across hMailServer which has been in existence from 2002 and completely free.
 
spiderz said:
format ... install Linux ... :D
or just install a dedicated Mail server on a old pc laying around.

Don't know about many mail servers that actually work reliably on windows.
Click to expand...

Ever heard of Exchange?
 
The_Librarian said:
Exchange is a commercial product, and you need to have Active Directory installed for Exchange to work.

hMailServer can work without Active Directory.
Click to expand...

Jip, was more a reply to the "Don't know about many mail servers that actually work reliably on windows" part :)

If it was Server 2008 you would have been able to add the POP future, wonder if the same "hack" will work for 2008 R2...
 
Last edited:
If you going to use pop3, rather just use a hosting provider. It is much less hassle and is so cheap these days. Also prevents all sites being affected if there is a power/internet issue where the server sits
 
I was thinking POP3 or perhaps IMAP, although I must first research it a bit.

Exchange, as I have it, is more for a network environment? And I don't really want to go into AD.

With this hMail... is it possible for instance for users to set up their own auto responders, change mailbox password, etc.?
 
ViperGTI said:
Linux not an option. We're running a Microsoft server for a reason.
Our website is currently running on a Linux server at a different hosting provider, but since we have a dedicated server, we might as well move our emails and website to it.
Click to expand...

If you're not afraid of using Linux, but you're bound to using one server, you could just spin up a Hyper-V instance (with a static disk image) and install Linux under there. Even a small image (512k mem, modest 20GB disk) will be able to offer enough "oomph" for a medium-sized organization.

If the issue is that you don't know Linux, then my suggestion is moot.

--deckert
 
Don't stress yourself, with hmailserver is great mailserver. Iam not sure if axigen is still there, you can check it too

Sent from South Africas most popular smartphone BlackBerry
 
Deckert said:
If you're not afraid of using Linux, but you're bound to using one server, you could just spin up a Hyper-V instance (with a static disk image) and install Linux under there. Even a small image (512k mem, modest 20GB disk) will be able to offer enough "oomph" for a medium-sized organization.

If the issue is that you don't know Linux, then my suggestion is moot.

--deckert
Click to expand...

Actually, I don't know Linux, but that's not the reason that a MS server is non-negotiable. Thanks for the suggestion anyway. I never thought of that.

I have been looking at this hMailServer and SmarterMail packages and I'm quite impressed with what they can do. Ok, so I don't really have anything else to compare it to since I don't work on Linux. I've only seen some online control panels like Plesk, but that's not really the full picture I suppose.
 
zizebra said:
Don't stress yourself, with hmailserver is great mailserver. Iam not sure if axigen is still there, you can check it too

Sent from South Africas most popular smartphone BlackBerry
Click to expand...

Thanks.
How is Axigen in comparison with hMailServer?
 
ViperGTI said:
We've got a dedicated web server running Windows 2008 R2 and recently (well... from a couple of hours ago) I've been looking into options of hosting our own mail server on it. The server is hosted in Jhb and the users are basically from all over the place so I suppose a pop3 mail server or something like that is the way to go?
I don't really know a lot about mail servers or anything like that so advice would be helpful.

Since Win2008 does not have its own pop3 mail server software, I was looking around at 3rd party providers... came across SmarterMail.
- Anybody know anything about it?
- Is it any good?
- Any other recommendations / options?
Click to expand...
Smartermail is the business. Have your purchased a license yet or still fiddling?

If you do decide to go with SmarterMail and require assistance with setting it up you're more than welcome to contact me and I'll gladly assist at no cost.
 
server-admins.net said:
Smartermail is the business. Have your purchased a license yet or still fiddling?

If you do decide to go with SmarterMail and require assistance with setting it up you're more than welcome to contact me and I'll gladly assist at no cost.
Click to expand...

Thanks.
I'm still playing around (currently on leave) but will resume when I'm back. Smarter mail looks very good.
We own multiple domains so I think I'll probably set up the free version for one domain to play around with and if we're happy (and I'm confident that I know what the heck I'm doing), I'll buy one and convert our main domain's email accounts from Linux to Smartermail.
 
ViperGTI said:
Thanks.
I'm still playing around (currently on leave) but will resume when I'm back. Smarter mail looks very good.
We own multiple domains so I think I'll probably set up the free version for one domain to play around with and if we're happy (and I'm confident that I know what the heck I'm doing), I'll buy one and convert our main domain's email accounts from Linux to Smartermail.
Click to expand...
Awesome, another one converted :)

When and if you decide to purchase SM, shop around as SmarterTools' resellers generally offer licenses for cheaper than what SmarterTools do.
 
Ok, I've set up the free edition of SmarterMail and it is pretty cool. I basically went in swinging (since this is only a test scenario), guessing a lot of the settings, etc. and it works. Very cool. Managed to set up pop, smtp and imap. The webmail client is great too.

Couple of questions though:
1. Someone told me that it is risky having a mail server on the same server as your application server since it is more likely to be infected with viruses. Does the mail server get infected or is it the clients that open the emails that get infected?

2. The webmail client is currently available through localhost:9998 from the server self. If I open port 9998 on the firewall that should allow it to be accessed externally via www.sitename.ext:9998 but is there a way that I can set up my DNS so that the webmail client can be accessed directly by entering webmail.sitename.ext for example?

3. I think this question is specifically related to SmarterMail... I've set up an IMAP mailbox but the calendars doesn't sync with the server. In fact, there are no folders for the calendars or contacts or anything on the newly created pst file (even though they are available through the webmail interface). Any idea how I can enable it or get it working?
 
ViperGTI said:
Couple of questions though:
1. Someone told me that it is risky having a mail server on the same server as your application server since it is more likely to be infected with viruses. Does the mail server get infected or is it the clients that open the emails that get infected?
Click to expand...
The client would get infected how ever SM does provide clam AV. From a production / best practice scenario I would not host both on the same server how ever this all depends on your budget and resources on the current server
ViperGTI said:
2. The webmail client is currently available through localhost:9998 from the server self. If I open port 9998 on the firewall that should allow it to be accessed externally via www.sitename.ext:9998 but is there a way that I can set up my DNS so that the webmail client can be accessed directly by entering webmail.sitename.ext for example?
Click to expand...
Stop the SM Web Server and use the following article to setup a site within IIS for Smartermail. You can then point webmail.domain to your server and have you host headers catch the request
http://portal.smartertools.com/KB/a1974/set-up-smartermail-as-an-iis-site-iis-70.aspx
ViperGTI said:
3. I think this question is specifically related to SmarterMail... I've set up an IMAP mailbox but the calendars doesn't sync with the server. In fact, there are no folders for the calendars or contacts or anything on the newly created pst file (even though they are available through the webmail interface). Any idea how I can enable it or get it working?
Click to expand...
You will need to download the activesync client > http://portal.smartertools.com/KB/a...rmail-accounts-with-outlook-using-syncml.aspx
 
Thanks for the quick reply.
We currently have a dedicated application server and a shared hosting option on a linux server. We will be getting another application server soon as the load on the current one is become a bit much, but I've been thinking that maybe we'd move our website and email to one of our dedicated servers. Advantages would be maybe something like shared contacts, calendars, users able to set up their own auto responders, backup of emails on the server, etc. Luckily we aren't very big (only about 30 mailboxes).

Managed to set up the webmail in IIS and works like a charm.

Ok. I thought it would be automatic like with Exchange (obviously I don't know a lot about these things). I will check it out but this will mean that when we purchase, we'll have to go for the Enterprise edition.
 
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