Main Area and Open Discussion > General Software Discussion
Email Server Frustration -- Looking for Advice
Renegade:
Actually, Postfix is the server that I really wanted to run, but no... That's for CentOS. I'm running Windows 2008 R2.
I skipped over Postfix because I really don't like the "cross-platform" voodoo that's needed to get anything from the *nix world running properly on Windows. PHP is bad enough to get working properly. (Always a plethora of standard components in it that break it entirely on Windows. Uncomment... Break... Comment out again... Next... Rinse. Repeat.)
What I really should have done is installed VMware and then had Windows and Linux running inside. No time anymore though. :(
40hz:
^You're obviously a more committed than me when it comes to email servers.
Nowadays I'm more inclined to go with an inexpensive email setup through a reasonable hosting company like Dreamhost unless there are very unique or special requirements involved.
IMHO, for vanilla POP, IMAP and webmail it's a lot easier (and cheaper if you value your time at more than $3/hr. ;)) to farm the "tech part" out, only do the administration - and save your personal hardware and "little gray cells" for something far more interesting than email.
But maybe that's just me. ;D
Luck! :Thmbsup:
Stoic Joker:
I'm running Windows 2008 R2.-Renegade (November 23, 2010, 12:03 PM)
--- End quote ---
Ah! that explains alot.
PHP is bad enough to get working properly. (Always a plethora of standard components in it that break it entirely on Windows.
--- End quote ---
Biggest problem I've seen with PHP on Windows is most folks either use the installer package, or follow the (quickie way) instructions found online. Both are wrong.
Install only the parts you are going to use (much less attack surface), and put the script extension in the location MS intended...not on the root of the C: drive (Eliminates a ton of before & after permissions issues).
I did a quick bounce into the home lab - This is a clean and lean manual PHP install - IIRC these settings also worked on my current IIS7 (2k8) web server.
These are the Files & File Paths used for the MySQL db &
PHP Script support installation on IIS6 (Webster) <-Old now decommissioned server)
FOR PHP SUPPORT ONLY:
C:\Windows\php.ini
C:\Windows\System32\php5ts.dll
C:\Windows\System32\inetsrv\php5isapi.dll
---------------------------------------------------------
For PHP with MySQL Support ADD These Files:
C:\Windows\System32\libmysql.dll <-"Helper" File, Required for ANY of the Extensions to Work)
C:\Windows\System32\inetsrv\phpext\php_mysql.dll
---------------------------------------------------------
IF Using MS-SQL (Which Includes the MSDE Version) ADD These Files:
C:\Windows\System32\ntwdblib.dll
C:\Windows\System32\inetsrv\phpext\php_mssql.dll
NOTE: These additional Files are required (in these locations) to load & run the PHP_cURL.DLL module.
C:\Windows\System32\inetsrv\phpext\php_curl.dll
C:\Windows\System32\libeay32.dll
C:\Windows\System32\ssleay32.dll
Renegade:
^You're obviously a more committed than me when it comes to email servers.
Nowadays I'm more inclined to go with an inexpensive email setup through a reasonable hosting company like Dreamhost unless there are very unique or special requirements involved.
IMHO, for vanilla POP, IMAP and webmail it's a lot easier (and cheaper if you value your time at more than $3/hr. ;)) to farm the "tech part" out, only do the administration - and save your personal hardware and "little gray cells" for something far more interesting than email.
But maybe that's just me. ;D
Luck! :Thmbsup:
-40hz (November 23, 2010, 12:23 PM)
--- End quote ---
I've simply been burned too many times by crappy services.
WebHost4Life? Groan... Some of the worst, dishonest, lying, scum.
Layered Technologies? Some of the worst, most incompetent, retards.
I'm skittish about farming some things out. Email for $3? Nah... Too cheap. Scares me.
An email account costs around $100 a year to run if you're running any of the top software. Antivirus will run you $20 to $60. Antispam about the same. The account itself will cost $20 to $40 depending on the number of users you have. It adds up quickly. This is why I don't like to pay for "user" licenses. I like being able to add accounts at a whim.
When I see cheap stuff, it just scares me.
I'm running Windows 2008 R2.-Renegade (November 23, 2010, 12:03 PM)
--- End quote ---
Ah! that explains alot.
PHP is bad enough to get working properly. (Always a plethora of standard components in it that break it entirely on Windows.
--- End quote ---
Biggest problem I've seen with PHP on Windows is most folks either use the installer package, or follow the (quickie way) instructions found online. Both are wrong.
Install only the parts you are going to use (much less attack surface), and put the script extension in the location MS intended...not on the root of the C: drive (Eliminates a ton of before & after permissions issues).
I did a quick bounce into the home lab - This is a clean and lean manual PHP install - IIRC these settings also worked on my current IIS7 (2k8) web server.
These are the Files & File Paths used for the MySQL db &
PHP Script support installation on IIS6 (Webster) <-Old now decommissioned server)
FOR PHP SUPPORT ONLY:
C:\Windows\php.ini
C:\Windows\System32\php5ts.dll
C:\Windows\System32\inetsrv\php5isapi.dll
---------------------------------------------------------
For PHP with MySQL Support ADD These Files:
C:\Windows\System32\libmysql.dll <-"Helper" File, Required for ANY of the Extensions to Work)
C:\Windows\System32\inetsrv\phpext\php_mysql.dll
---------------------------------------------------------
IF Using MS-SQL (Which Includes the MSDE Version) ADD These Files:
C:\Windows\System32\ntwdblib.dll
C:\Windows\System32\inetsrv\phpext\php_mssql.dll
NOTE: These additional Files are required (in these locations) to load & run the PHP_cURL.DLL module.
C:\Windows\System32\inetsrv\phpext\php_curl.dll
C:\Windows\System32\libeay32.dll
C:\Windows\System32\ssleay32.dll
-Stoic Joker (November 23, 2010, 01:11 PM)
--- End quote ---
At the moment I'm running the new PHP installation under FastCGI with the php-cgi.exe instead of the ISAPI DLL. On my other server I use the ISAPI. Both are the ZIP file and not the installer. FastCGI is supposed to give far better performance (20x?), so that's why I'm running with that.
I must confess though, I prefer to keep C:\PHP as my install location and configure paths instead. It makes for an easier upgrade, and I don't need to "remember" every path and file then. God knows my records are non-existent.
But I've had no real problems other than uncommenting some extensions like php_whatever.dll breaks PHP. They're so horribly documented that it just makes it a nightmare to figure out. A good number of extensions break. And I'm too busy to look into things further for anything but critical extensions, which all seem to work fine.
I only enable PHP for sites that use it though.
I use My Personal Proxy with SSL so I can surf without the ISP snooping on me, but it's a PITA and doesn't really work very well. It's also rather slow. That one is under the ISAPI, but the server is old too, and one of the reasons for the new one. I think it's mostly bad coding though that makes it slow.
My ASP.NET applications on the old server run nicely though.
Anyways, this is way off topic. :) Still enjoyable though. :)
Any reasons why you like PHP in the Windows folder? It just seems somewhat dirty to me and hard to maintain. I've not really seen any practical upshot for it, so I'd love to hear more. :)
40hz:
When I see cheap stuff, it just scares me.
-Renegade (November 23, 2010, 01:34 PM)
--- End quote ---
Scares me too. That's why I didn't day cheap. I said from a reasonable host. And I named a good one.
Note: I also do it conjunction with a server package. Most will give you at least 100 mailboxes as part of the deal. It's still sub $350 per year for something decent. And at a buck or less per day, it's worth it to me. And this also gives me another webserver to play with! Perfect as a test bed if it's not needed for production.
From my perspective, running a mailserver is no longer a fun or interesting or educational activity. The blush has long since gone off the rose on that for me.
But again, that's just me. ;D
:)
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