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?
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.