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On 25/02/11 19:06, Grant Sewell wrote:
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.
Yep, that's one of the reasons I chose it. First version I ran was Mitel e-Smith server back in 2001 on an old Pentium, didn't get on so well with it then but I had limited experience of Linux back then. First time I really used SME Server properly was on a Pentium 2 300 with 128MB Ram :-)
(Couldn't get Windows Server 2003 and Exchange 2003 running on that sort of spec).
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.
Thanks for the pointers, I'll have a look.
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.
Maybe one day I'll go down that route. :-)
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 don't tend to play much with my e-mail server, I've had it go wrong a couple of times, worst time was when I completely screwed it up but luckily was able to just transfer everything over to a new SME Server VM. I tend to now do playing on either a VM on it's own or my laptop. :-)
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!
Yep, I have some spare bits, although the wife might not like an extra PC downstairs behind the telly. Might possibly opt to put my Linksys router back in (running DD-WRT) and put the Mini ITX box in at my mums as a off-site backup.
Rob -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG http://mailman.dclug.org.uk/listinfo/list FAQ: http://www.dcglug.org.uk/listfaq