Re: Suggestions for a more privacy conscious email provider

[Grant Taylor via NANOG <nanog () nanog org>]

On 12/03/2017 10:48 AM, Michael S. Singh wrote:
> I was considering purchasing a Raspberry Pi and setting up my own mail 
> server on it. Would it be capable of running a personal mail server? I 
> am on the Linux Kernel mailing list which receives around 300 emails a day.

Is a Raspberry Pi capable of functioning as a mail server, sure.  Would 
I recommend it, most likely not.

I see two things being a limitation for the Raspberry Pi, 1) lack of 
memory (for various filters and support daemons) and 2) (lack of) disk.

I think you will be spending quite a bit more time than you will likely 
care to waiting on the Raspberry Pi.  An external disk will help.

I would strongly suggest that you look at a Linode VPS (which is what 
I'm using) or something similar.  Preferably something that is very well 
connected (both speed and more diverse back bone connectivity) and SSD 
backed.

> Will I also need a static IP address in order to connect to the server 
> from anywhere in the world?

Technically, no.  You can tune your DNS such that the A record that your 
MX record points to has a low TTL thus avoiding caching and enabling 
dynamic DNS.  -  Would I do this for my mail server?  Not at all.  Would 
I do this for my home server that smart hosts through my mail mail 
server (Linode VPS), sure.

There is a big difference in what will technically work and what you 
will want to end up using.

If you're serious about this (which I encourage you to scratch the itch 
if you're so inclined) then I would strongly recommend spending ~$10 a 
month for a VPS as your primary mail server.  (You can then have it 
forward to an internal mail server if you want to.)

Feel free to reply to me (on or off list) if you would like to discuss 
further details.

Note:  You will need DNS servers with static IPs that you can configure 
in your domain registrar.  (ProTip:  Linode allows you to use their five 
DNS servers for the low price of having a single Linode VPS.) 
Everything else is ... technically flexible from that point.



--
Grant. . . .
unix || die

Attachment: smime.p7s
Description: S/MIME Cryptographic Signature