Modern companies use their own mail servers to protect their data and securely exchange messages. This is one of the most effective ways of communication for businesses and various organizations. Let’s take a look at how to set up a service on a mail server.
What is a mail server
A mail server is specialized software used to send messages. To be more precise, mail servers perform the functions of working with data packets. These can be not only text messages, but also various documents, files, video images, etc.
There are ready-made solutions for working with email. Most ordinary users use them. However, if you are an enterprise or an institution, you should consider setting up your own mail server. This is especially true for large companies, various utilities, and government agencies.
By using your own mail server on a VDS server, you can get full control over your correspondence without the interference of third-party persons and services. You can also scale resources if necessary.
One of the main advantages of having your own mail server is the ability to use data transmission protection. First of all, it means choosing an encryption protocol, transmitting data packets, and checking that the received email has not been modified or intercepted by intruders and hackers.
With your own mail server, you can also have your own domain. For example, you can often see this with government organizations and various companies, where the address and domain of the mail indicates the identity and affiliation with this particular organization or enterprise. This also enhances the company’s image, as it does not use common services but has its own.
How to choose a VPS for a mail server
There are many advantages to using virtual servers to set up your email service. To begin with, a virtual server is a part of a physical server that is provided for use. It is located remotely. This allows you not to overpay for the purchase, installation, and configuration of expensive server hardware. You also do not need to allocate a separate room for this purpose, as the server room must be kept at a certain temperature, humidity, and cleanliness.
A remote virtual server is protected from various factors, such as power outages, voltage surges, and other factors. Therefore, you can be sure of the safety and uninterrupted operation of the VPS.
On a virtual server, you can easily set up your mail service and do further work. However, you need to choose a reliable VPS first. Pay attention to several criteria.
First of all, familiarize yourself with the security guarantees provided by the VPS server provider. This will help you avoid system failures and information loss.
Select the amount of memory. For now, the best solution is to use an SSD disk. Its capacity can be from 35 to 400 GB. This will be enough to run your mail server.
A VDS server requires a sufficient amount of RAM for fast operation. You should consult with a specialist to understand the best option for you. Usually, up to 16 GB of RAM can be enough, but in the case of powerful servers for large companies, you may need more.
You also need to select the number of cores and processor frequency for fast operation of the virtual server.
The last criterion is the location of the data center. For example, you can choose several locations to ensure stable operation and high transmission speeds.
Read also: How to run a video surveillance system on a server
How to deploy a mail server on a VPS/VDS
To perform the configuration, you first need to select the operating system on which the mail server will be created. All VPS servers, like regular servers, can be configured for different operating systems. The most common ones are Windows or Linux. They have different versions and features. So, you should start from your own experience and budget.
Windows makes it fairly easy to customize. However, these operating systems are paid for. Linux, on the other hand, is a completely free and open-source operating system. You can choose any distribution. However, Linux is more complicated to set up, so you may need to contact a specialist.
Mail server on Windows
This operating system allows you to deploy a mail server using hMailServer or Microsoft Exchange. Let’s consider the configuration using the latter software as an example. It is the most common and convenient for Windows.
First, you need to rent a virtual server, create a new virtual machine, and define its IP address.
Connect to the VDS server using a specialized remote access program. Perform the initial settings after installing the operating system.
Install Microsoft Exchange on your virtual machine. You will need to configure and specify the settings you need after startup.
Specify two DNS records of type “A” (one for the domain and one for the subdomain). Then add an MX (Mail Exchange) record to define the mail server for your domain.
Check if the firewall allows traffic through the virtual server.
Set up an account, username, and server details via the Outlook email client.
After that, you can start working with the mail server.
Mail server on Linux
Linux-based mail servers are more common because its distributions are free and well-protected. However, the configuration is more complicated because it has to be done using commands in a terminal instead of a graphical user interface, which is unusual for regular Windows users.
First of all, for the mail server to work, you need to configure DNS records.
Select and install a Linux distribution, install and configure it. The most commonly used distribution for mail servers is Ubuntu. Update the system packages.
Perform Postfix configurations using the command:
sudo nano /etc/postfix/main.cf
Save your changes and restart the service using the command:
sudo systemctl restart postfix
Configure Dovecot. To do this, edit the configuration file using the command:
sudo nano /etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf
The parameters should be as follows:
“protocols = imap pop3” and “mail_location = mbox:~/mail:INBOX=/var/mail/%u”
After these settings, you can create an account and use it.
Security settings
Depending on the operating system and email service you choose, you should take care of security. This includes setting up encryption algorithms and checking the hash amount of delivered messages.
Modern encryption algorithms using public or private keys can make data packets unreadable in transit. If attackers are able to intercept these packets in transit, they will not be able to decipher the content of the message, extract files, images, or videos, as they will not have the keys to decrypt them.
Conclusion
Having your own mail server, as we can see, has many advantages. Although it may seem very complicated to an ordinary person, the setup is actually quite quick. You can also ask your system administrator for help. However, in the end, you will have your own secure mail service to transmit important messages.
