User:Paul/sandbox/Mail-in-a-Box with Namecheap and Vultr

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Configuring a mail server has never been easier than it is today with Mail-in-a-Box (MiaB), a free and open source project that automatically configures everything required to have a personal mail server.

This article covers installing MiaB using Namecheap as a registrar and Vultr as a VPS provider. It assumes an understanding of basic command line skills and establishing remote SSH sessions. For those who are new to SSH, please see the Intro to command line article.

Advantages and disadvantages

Nothing is without risk and everything has disadvantages.

The primary advantage to having a personal mail server is the mail is only viewable to ISP admins with access to the server and you. Most ISP admins are generally unconcerned with anything that isn't criminal or damaging to their servers, as their business model does not incorporate amassing vast amounts of data to analyze and sell.

MiaB also has the advantage of hosting as many domains, email address, and aliases as desired, so users desiring different email address for different purposes can easily create one for every desired need.

Disadvantages include more time required in managing the service. MiaB does do most of the heavy lifting automatically, but it is necessary to log in every now and then to perform some basic housekeeping in the server.

Security comes in various forms, and while the developers of MiaB have gone to good length to provide a reasonable amount of security in the project, it is not possible to have a mail server as secure as one managed by professional administrators. This is largely due to professionals having network and firewall diagnostic tools that are beyond the scope of what is necessary for a typical personal mail server.

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