[Linux-aus] SMTP Server recommendations

[Adam Nielsen]

> AWS has options for setting up reverse dns entries and unblocking port 25,
> I have my email server setup and running. Besides the normal pain of trying
> to get the IP trusted by other email providers, it was fairly straight
> forward.

I did the same thing.  Originally I used Linode with port 25 unblocked,
but then because latency was so high to the US, I moved to an Amazon
EC2 hosted in Sydney and got port 25 unblocked there (later Linode
set up shop in Australia so they are probably worth trying again).
Amazon also provide a relay in the form of SES which has the benefit
that they work on getting the IPs whitelisted, but also the downside
that it appeals to a lot of spammers and they can't stamp them out
quickly enough, so equally as many admins block Amazon's IPs too.

Like Luke said, the hardest part with running your own SMTP server is
getting the IP trusted.  I had to create a separate account with
Microsoft to log in to their portal that doesn't appear to have been
updated since the 90s in order to apply to get my IP whitelisted, and
other providers have similar hoops to jump through.  Google doesn't, so
my e-mails to GMail addresses still often end up in recipient's junk
folders, even when I reply to messages they sent me first.

If I was starting from scratch I'd probably go down the relay path, but
I'd probably find a provider that isn't the cheapest as I don't think
the cheap ones will put too much effort into getting their IPs
whitelisted anywhere.  Hopefully the more expensive ones would.

Cheers,
Adam.