I set up a VPS to use mailman to send out a newsletter for a community organisation.
Ransom IT http://ransomit.com.au/ is my host. They are one of the cheaper options if you want your server to be located in Australia. I haven't noticed any problems, though sending a monthly newsletter doesn't take much resources. When I signed up their ToS had a clause about no bulk mail, however I contacted them and they said it was a no spam policy and they are OK with opt-in newsletters. It looks like they've since revised the ToS to make that clear. I use Gandi https://www.gandi.net/en for DNS. Reputable, low cost, supports two factor authentication, has an API if you ever want to automate anything. Let's Encrypt worked for me for HTTPS certificates. Mail Tester http://www.mail-tester.com/ was very useful when I was first checking to make sure I had all the anti-spam features set up correctly. It was my first time setting up a mail server. I found the Ars Technica guide extremely useful: https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2014/02/how-to-run-your-own-e-mail-server-with-your-own-domain-part-1/ https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2014/03/taking-e-mail-back-part-2-arming-your-server-with-postfix-dovecot/ https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2014/03/taking-e-mail-back-part-3-fortifying-your-box-against-spammers/ https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2014/04/taking-e-mail-back-part-4-the-finale-with-webmail-everything-after/ The guide is a few years old now, but AFAIK it is still worth reading. Email hasn't fundamentally changed in the last 3 years. I use mailman https://www.gnu.org/software/mailman/index.html to manage mailing lists. It took a while to get it configured nicely, the default settings tend to mangle mail in a way that isn't compatible with modern anti-spam features. Cheers, Peter On 23 September 2017 at 04:56, Wen Lin via luv-main <[email protected]> wrote: > > One of the associations I'm in (besides LUV) have been experiencing > difficulties sending bulk emails to members on a monthly basis (for > announcements, newsletters purposes). This is because when you are trying > to send bulk emails via your free web mail account (in this case, GMail), > there is a limit imposed by Google (or any other webmail service providers) > on the number of email addresses we can mail out to, within a period of > time - and this limit can get ever stricter as time goes by. So the whole > mailout process becomes unmanageable after a while. > > While the Ctte is looking into various alternatives, including several of > the 3rd party mail services / transactional mail services in the market, I > am offering them another option: Setup a SMTP mail server (e.g. Postfix) > on a VPS hosted by a web hosting company, and handle the whole bulk mailout > ourselves. I am willing to help them setting up a VPS, hardening the > Linux, installing & configuring all the mail software, etc, and then take > care of the regular maintenance. > > For VPS hosting service - I had looked at one hostwinds.com (Editor's > Choice of au.pcmag.com 2017) (~ US$ 14 / mth). Will check out others to > compare - basically I'm after a reasonably priced and reputable VPS web > hosting company. I would like to hear any recommendation, or any > first-hand experience dealing with any particular web hosting company - > which I'm sure many of LUV members certainly have. > > For domain name (.org.au) - About $48 for 2 years. Any reputable Domain > Registrar that you would recommend? > > For SSL Certificate - I can install one from Let's Encrypt, which will be > free. > > Any major cost/charges that I have missed? > > I also intend to follow all the bulk mail best practices, SPF/DKIM > settings, MX records, security measures, email etiquette, etc, to make sure > that our organisation normal notification/newsletter to our members, would > not be treated as SPAM. > > The 3rd party mail service providers that I had found so far: MailChimp, > MailJet, Amazon-SES, SendGrid, MailGun (and many others). > > Did lots of google searches, trying to compare (Advantages & > Disadvantages) between managing own SMTP mail server and using 3rd party > mail services. The results were mix and varied. > > I myself certainly have much more faith in opting for a self-managed mail > server solution over the commercial mail service ones. > > Some of the advantages: > > - Have full control over most aspect of the mailing process. More > flexible. Not constraint by the ever-changing rules imposed by 3rd party > mail services. > - Using all free & open source software - have all the freedom, and > can tap into the large FOSS Community out there for various kinds of help > and support. > - Cost-wise, the mail server option is generally on the lower end of > the price spectrum, as compared to many of the 3rd party mail services in > the market. > - No doubt the own mail server option would involve more work, more > time to manage the whole thing - but I'm quite happy to take up this > challenge, and to learn a lot from this hands-on experience. > > I would be delighted if any of you who are experienced in managing a > linux-based mail server can kindly share with us some more real-life > examples and hands-on experiences - so that I can gather more solid > evidence & cases, hopefully to strengthen my case for a self-managed mail > server solution. > > Some points that I had read somewhere that I would like to quote below to > seek your comment: > > "*What a commercial mailing list operator does, and which you cannot > easily replicate, is build and maintain a reputation as a responsible and > reputable source of bulk email. If you are not going to be getting into > that, perhaps you could benefit from getting help from a commercial mailer. > ... * > > *Abuse handling, bounce handling etc are important to get right, but until > you have significant experience, your reputation is going to remain zero, > if not negative (which is a reasonable starting point for unknown domains > in this day and age). A lot of the reputation-based stuff like SPF, DKIM > etc will help only if you have a reputation to defend. On the other hand, > it does send the right signals to somebody who is deciding on whether or > not a sender is to be treated as reputable (or rather, their absence is not > a good sign; neither, in my book, is anything to suggest you are using > homegrown and/or prerelease software to send email). *..." > > I also read somewhere which seemed to point to a 3rd option: Still use > own mail server, but direct the outbound mails to an external Mail Relay > service. What do you think? > > When this whole project (if accepted by my Ctte) is done and implemented > successfully, I intend to share my experience in this whole process, in one > of LUV talks. > > In the mean time, I have a lot of work to do, and lots to learn ... > > > Cheers, > Wen > > > _______________________________________________ > luv-main mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.luv.asn.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/luv-main > > -- Trapped in signature factory please send help
_______________________________________________ luv-main mailing list [email protected] https://lists.luv.asn.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/luv-main
