Post by Jan Wildeboer 😷:krulorange:

I #Selfhost my email server (that handles my 20+ domains) since almost 20 years now, currently on a cheap virtual machine running Linux, with 1 CPU core, 2G of RAM, 40G hard drive and unlimited network traffic which costs me less than €5/month.

Many people keep on telling me that running your own email server is more or less impossible. I simply don't listen to them.

I explained my setup in a blog series starting at https://jan.wildeboer.net/2022/08/Email-0-The-Journey-2022/

#DigitalAutonomy @homelab

No webmail, only simple SMTP/IMAP with Postfix and Dovecot. All incoming mails are stored encrypted, all traffic uses TLS with a LetsEncrypt certificate. DKIM, SPF is configured. Admin work consists of keeping the OS and firewall up2date, this means maybe 1-2 hours in total per month. I am not saying you can also do that (I have a lot of experience). But I am saying that those skills can be learned and result in a lot less worries about being reachable :)

#DigitalAutonomy #SelfHost @homelab

And, as expected, the first replies by people saying that running your own email server isn't something you should do are coming in. As I said in my first post — I ignore them. I have 20 years of practical experience with that, I know what works for me and my users and they have never complained. But, as I also said, that is just me. I am not saying that everyone can or should do it. What I am saying is that it absolutely is possible and that I share what I know in the hope it helps.

@homelab

@jwildeboer I run my own mail server too, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone without solid Linux skills.

You need to really understand SMTP, DNS, DKIM and friends, and when something breaks, it's your users' mail that silently lands in spam or gets lost.

That responsibility is what most of the warnings are about, not that it's impossible.