Host your own mail or outside?

[AntiThesis]

I have something of a conundrum. And it's got to do with cost and static IPs.

I currently have two campuses that I have to manage. One has a 512k Uncapped connection shared between about 40 people and two labs and the other has a 384k capped (3GB transfer allowed per month) line shared between about 30 people and one lab.

With the 512k uncapped account I get 5 static IP addresses of which I use two - one for my mail server breakout and one for my proxy server breakout.

As things stand, the internet is (as you'd imagine) helluva slow when people are using it. I can upgrade both sites to a 4Mb uncapped connection for the same price as what I'm paying now. BUT I lose the static IPs.

Now, I have a dedicated server that I could host our mail server on and I could easily run the proxy (squid) through a normal 4Mb connection.

What would your advice be? Do I:

a) Host my own mail server and stick with 512k
b) Host an internal mail server, forward it to my Dedicated server and move to 4Mb
c) Try to find some ISP that provides a static IP and mix both solutions

tl/dr: Choose A, B or C.

[TwoZeroAlpha]

I would... use a googlemail backend with the upgrade to 4Mb
Google Apps for Education - Free hosted email (Gmail) for EDU

If that's not workable then probably option c

[RabbieBurns]

Have you considered Microsoft Live@edu free mail system? Weve just set it up for all our students mailboxes.

[AntiThesis]

Hmm - that's not a bad idea. My only issue there is that I'm a little antsy to lose control of my mail server.

Damnit, my options are being limited again - no ISP will give me a static IP as an addon. The only way they'll do it is if I pay a massive premium. Cursed monopoly on the internets!

[TwoZeroAlpha]

You still get a huge amount of control on the google system (sure MS is similar). The only difference is backup/restore, but seeing as our email in not "mission critical" I'm not too worried. If we lose it, it happens.

[dhicks]

My only issue there is that I'm a little antsy to lose control of my mail server.

Cheat. Google's gMail service lets you set a "catch-all" email account that recieves all email sent to any un-recognised address at your domain. Simply have a script that imports that email from gMail to your own email system every few minutes. You get gMail to filter out the spam for you and you don't need a fixed IP address.

--
David Hicks

[_Adam_]

Another line in? Keep the email on the static 512k and put web browsing over a separate 4M link. Going to a web based (hosted) solution means more traffic overall over an already saturated link.

[elsiegee40]

I would... use a googlemail backend with the upgrade to 4Mb
Google Apps for Education - Free hosted email (Gmail) for EDU

If that's not workable then probably option c

Have you considered Microsoft Live@edu free mail system? Weve just set it up for all our students mailboxes.

Is anyone using either of these? Any pros/cons?

[EduTech]

You could get a firewall (ISA2006 / TMG) put that on a box, only need 1 public IP Address and you can do everything you need from that. You would need a Wildcard SSL Cert though if you wanted to publish more than 1 secure service due to you only being allowed 1 SSL Cert Per IP Address.

James.

[AntiThesis]

Some excellent ideas - thanks folks, you're helping me get my head around it.

An issue with running one 4mb and keeping the 512 for mail is that the two campuses are only linked using wireless at the moment. Once we buy the intervening land we can lay fibre etc but for now the wireless link is all we have. It runs quite well but I'd have to do some speedtests to see what browsing is like from the other end. I have a hunch it might suck.

@EduTech: Problem is, I can't seem to get a static IP for love or money. Nobody seems to offer what I figure shouldn't be too terribly hard.

[joe90bass]

Have you looked at Plusnet?

13. Can I get multiple IP addresses?
Yes. Accounts come with a Static IP as standard, however you can ask for a block of IP addresses by raising a Ticket using the Help Assistant.

I used them as my home ISP for years and had no issues. Only moved to Sky as part of the phone/BB/TV deal

[AntiThesis]

Have you looked at Plusnet?

I used them as my home ISP for years and had no issues. Only moved to Sky as part of the phone/BB/TV deal

^^^ South Africa

Our ISPs don't seem to get this whole "internet" thing

Though, with the landing of two new undersea cables it's getting pretty awesome

[CyberNerd]

Is anyone using either of these? Any pros/cons?

We use the google apps educational, I can't compare to the MS version but google apps is proving very successful over our previous zimbra/exchange mix.

You can sign up for a standard google apps account to test (50 users) for free with a domain name. The educational is the same as the premiere edition - but free.

Google Apps Standard Edition helps groups build communities - Google Apps Standard Edition

[CyberNerd]

You still get a huge amount of control on the google system (sure MS is similar). The only difference is backup/restore, but seeing as our email in not "mission critical" I'm not too worried. If we lose it, it happens.

We get a free postini content filter with google apps - there is an option to pay for backup/restore

[joe90bass]

^^^ South Africa

Our ISPs don't seem to get this whole "internet" thing

Though, with the landing of two new undersea cables it's getting pretty awesome

Sorry! On my screen your location shows as East London, South with "Africa" on the next line. I missed the last bit........... Wondered why nobody else had posted an ISP who did a static IP