Heyhey!
My fiance has been struggling with lack of space in his current email, plus his current provider (web.de) doesn’t have the most professional name, which is bothering him because he’s currently applying for jobs.
So I was looking to get him a nice clean email for Valentine’s, that has a simple name and enough space for a while.
Problem is - I’m kinda dumb and have very little idea of how web hosting and email work (despite working as a Software Engineer…). So I could use some input on what steps I should be taking to get what I’m looking for while avoiding the pitfalls and hidden costs that some service providers have.
So far, I’ve found a nice {hisLastname}.cc domain on namecheap for 50€/10 years. Namecheap also offers a basic email service for 14€ per year, altough I’m not sure whether 5GB is enough space. The next higher email would be 40€ per year for 30GB of space. That seems more like what I’d be looking for, but also seems a bit expensive?
Does anyone have tips on where else I might want to look? How expensive would it be to just run my own email server? Getting a little homeserver rack has been a goal in our hosehold anyways, we just haven’t had the time to look into what exactly to get.
What would I do once the domain (and maybe email service) is bought? Like, what does the migration from existing services look like? Would I have to set up specific software anywhere just to access the mails?
If you’re not sure what you’re doing yet, do NOT start by hosting a mailserver at home. It will only lead to headaches and frustration, especially if your household is depending on those mails working reliably from day one.
Seconded.
Source: I used to host a webserver at home. Guess why it’s in past tense.
You can use something like Proton mail or Tuta (among others) with a custom domain pretty easily. All you need to do is add a couple DNS records to the domain on the registrar’s admin page. Both of the services I mentioned have detailed step by step instructions on how to do this.
Way back 2008-2012 I had a server running on a “slice”, the early virtualization tech. Since I was running a complete linux system, having outgrown shared or managed hosting, I figured I’d run my own mail server.
It mostly worked fine but overall was way more work than it was worth. It’s complex software. You can end up dealing with misconfigurations that are tough to figure out, spam bans, security threats, and the worst for me - upgrades that break everything and then you don’t have email u til you spend hours fixing it. And since it’s complex, and that would only happen once a year or so, it took a lot of effort since I wouldn’t remember what I did last time.
So, I ended up switching to a mail host. Way easier, works all the time. If there’s a problem they get to be the ones to fix it, and they’re surely better at that than I am since I didn’t set out to be a mail server specialist.
This is a big question and this is just a short reply.
Buying a domain allows you to move email provider without needing to change the address.
Start with the 5GB plan with the domain you bought.
DO NOT BUY the domain from the email provider. Make the two completely separate. Otherwise you might lose control of your own domain.
Don’t worry about migrating historical email until you’re happy with whatever you set-up.
Once it’s all running, you can then go about setting up self hosting, but I’d think twice before self-hosting email. There’s a lot of scope for your email being blocked by recipients.
Another way to go is use Gmail and redirect email from your domain to Gmail (or any other provider).
PS. The steps are:
- Buy domain
- Buy email
- Configure email provider to accept messages from your domain
- Configure domain DNS to send email to provider
Hetzner is a good recommendation. Look at the webhosting packages, they all contain mailboxes and a domain and you can upgrade if the space is not enough.
I would not use a .cc domain, but look for something more reputable like .com or, if he is in Germany (as web.de suggests) .de. I would strongly advise against running a mail server on your own. There is some work involved keeping it secure and also playing nice with all receivers (don’t want his emails being flagged or even deleted as spam).
That said, if he is applying in Germany, a web.de email is absolutely fine. Lots of people use that here.
