Web Hosting and pop3 accounts?

quackers · 21 Nov 2007 at 11:10

Hi all, I'm not sure if i've put this in the right section?

Soon we are looking at doing some web site hosting with pop3 support, now the problem i'm finding is we can setup pop3 accounts using the windows pop3 service, but they dont have the useability of a specific hosting control panel (redirection, spam filtering, out of office etc etc)

I'm sure you guys do a lot of hosting, can anyone recommend a decent pop3 client?

sidethink · 21 Nov 2007 at 11:14

quackers said:
I'm sure you guys do a lot of hosting, can anyone recommend a decent pop3 client?

Not quite sure what you mean here? Surely you are after a pop3 server or hosting solution?

What you probably really need if I read your post correctly is a hosting/reseller front end for your IIS servers.

quackers · 21 Nov 2007 at 11:22

Sorry thats what i meant, we are looking into a dedicated server without the hosting front end. We can setup the domains and sites side of it, but while doing a bit of testing we have found we cant do everything we want on the pop3 side of it just using the windows 2003 pop3/smtp services.

Hence, i'm looking for something email software

sidethink · 21 Nov 2007 at 12:43

Are you intending on reselling this or using it for your own purposes?

Either way you will need to supply your own applications for all purposes.

There are many email servers out there compatible with Windows Server, from the obvious Microsoft Exchange to MDaemon and many many others.

Without knowing what you are trying to achieve its a bit hard to give advice but if the inbuilt facilities of Windows 2003 arent enough you will need to flex your credit card.

quackers · 21 Nov 2007 at 13:13

sorry again

We wont be doing any reselling, it's for our own purposes. Cheap as really

voodooflux · 21 Nov 2007 at 15:55

I use hMailServer on my dedicated server - very configurable, well supported and free. Which is nice.

EDIT: I've just read the question properly, and I think there are add-on configuration solutions for hMailServer. I'm in the process of writing one actually, as hMailServer also has an API.

quackers · 21 Nov 2007 at 16:36

I'll have a look at it, cheers for the link. Do you host email/websites for people voodooflux and it works ok?

voodooflux · 21 Nov 2007 at 16:59

quackers said:
Do you host email/websites for people voodooflux and it works ok?

Yeah, I provide "fully managed" hosting for several clients at the moment, whereby I take care of all the config. I'm using IIS and hMailServer on Windows 2003 Server as my hosting platform, and it works well.

While this suits most of my clients perfectly (they couldn't tell POP3 from popcorn) I've also got one or two that want to be able to do their own config, hence the web based inteface I'm currently working on.

quackers · 21 Nov 2007 at 17:11

Nice one, i've just installed this on my test server (it's a wreck

) and it looks decent so far.

So as far as i can see, you can integrate it into existing av and anti spam that's already on the server?

voodooflux · 21 Nov 2007 at 17:29

quackers said:
So as far as i can see, you can integrate it into existing av and anti spam that's already on the server?

Yeah, I believe it can be hooked into external anti-spam and anti-virus systems. I'm using the in-built anti-spam, and it's pretty decent.

quackers · 21 Nov 2007 at 17:34

What anti virus are you using at the moment? Does that integrate ok with it?

voodooflux · 22 Nov 2007 at 08:39

I'm about to start using ClamWin on the mail server, as hMailServer has built-in support for it. This page from the users guide describes how to integrate with other anti-virus providers.

toothe · 23 Nov 2007 at 10:23

i offer linux hosting and pop3 mail boxes and can also get you a very good priced fully dedicated server. If you wsh let me know and ill sort out something for you.

if your using windows i'm not sure. never rly used it for server side stuff

quackers · 26 Nov 2007 at 15:18

I'm ok, thanks for the offer though..

What anti virus/anti spam software is everyone running on their hosting solutions *(windows 2003)* ?

I know clamAv will run with hmailserver, but i'm not sure if it's any good. I need a solid anti virus solution..

Help.. :eek:

voodooflux · 26 Nov 2007 at 15:25

I can't vouch for ClamAV as an anti-virus solution yet, but the anti-spam feature on hMailServer seems to be very accurate and effective, and probably catches more than my previous ISP did. It also supports useful stuff like SPF lookups.

Are you after a *free* anti-virus solution or would you consider a commercial product? Server licenses for commercial AV products could be quite expensive I would imagine.

quackers · 26 Nov 2007 at 15:26

what anti virus were you using before ?

voodooflux · 26 Nov 2007 at 15:36

Clam is my first foray into anti-virus on the mailserver. Much to my surprise this hasn't been an issue for any of my clients, and they are happy to rely on their local anti-virus systems. It would make me happier to be running something on the server though, and is another "tick on the box" for any prospective clients.

quackers · 26 Nov 2007 at 15:48

I know what you mean, trying to find a decent anti virus solution that runs on server 2003 and scans the mail is proving a bit difficult now.

voodooflux · 26 Nov 2007 at 15:52

I've taken the plunge and deployed ClamWin onto my server (30 seconds to install and configure, no downtime required) - I'll let you know how I get on if that helps.

quackers · 26 Nov 2007 at 16:01

sound, cheers this is starting to do my head in now lol