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On Fri, 25 Feb 2011 18:45:16 +0000 Rob Beard wrote: > Rather than go down the manually configure everything route I opted > for an all-in-one distro called SME Server (currently version > 7.5.1). It's based on CentOS Linux although it does have a few > modifications. To configure it there is an easy to use web interface > and by default the server provides Samba shares, Apache, PHP, MySQL > and IMAP/POP3 e-mail with Horde for webmail. I had a play with SME about 2 years ago - it was very nice, and dead easy to setup and manage. A bit OT but I would certainly recommend it as a viable option for anyone looking at deploying Microsoft Small Business Server. > Or you could go down the build your own method. This is what I'm > looking at, not entirely sure what the best option is, I believe my > existing e-mail server uses Dovecot and something else, QMail I think > so I might have a look at that with maybe Squirrel Mail. A previous employer used QMail (I imagine that's what was offered in their bundle - I can't imagine them specifying it themselves). It was OK, but I preferred my setup. GetMail to retrieve messages and store in a maildir, dovecot to access 'em by IMAP and postfix for SMTP. Oh, and if you're interested in Squirrel Mail for a webmail frontend, you should also check out RoundCube.net. > Granted I could probably do the same with Google Mail (or Hotmail) > but at least this way I have full control over my e-mail server. To be honest, the reasons I moved away from running my own mail server and now use Google Apps for my mail handling are: + I no longer need a machine at home running 24/7 + I don't have to buy/rent hosting from anyone + I don't have to rely on my ISP's connection I do miss the getting-my-hands-dirty aspect of it, and I do miss the sheer flexibility of handling my own mail, but I find I miss it less than I thought I would. > The dis-advantage is when it goes wrong it's up to me to work out > what's gone wrong and fix it. :-) With the "ooh, that's an interesting idea, I'll see if I can fiddle with my server and get it working" mentality that I have, it went wrong quite often. Grantedly I usually managed to get things fixed relatively quickly, and often with the assistance of the LUG, but I'm now not in a position where I can fiddle and I find my mail works nicely. :D > I'm thinking of resurrecting an old Via MiniITX PC for this purpose > this weekend, maybe even try and configure it to share my Internet > connection so I don't need to use a router (although I do wonder if I > might be better with either using a standard router or using > something like PfSense or IPCop on a box and then re-configuring my > existing server). If you have the spare parts and inclination for it, PfSense/IPCop everytime! Grant. -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG http://mailman.dclug.org.uk/listinfo/list FAQ: http://www.dcglug.org.uk/listfaq