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Looking for Windows Email Server Options
mateek:
Thanks Stoic Joker. You put out a few facts I didn't understand. I did know that it "...only controls my personal domain with a small number of mailboxes..."
You wrote that "...a full blown Exchange implementation because it would cut too far into what I have available for experimentation. ...," but later you wrote that "It really is amazing how few resources a server OS requires when it isn't having to futz with the hardware." I'm sure you're happy with hMailServer, but I'm wondering hypothetically if Exchange is feasible for you if you ignore the modest (for a few years old setup) cost and curtail or batch erase the logs on a small home setup like this.
That must be one hell of a calendar! cheesy I do believe it is safe to say that Virtualization is by far my favorite technology to play with.
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I ended up with the system mostly to have fun with virtualization. I've become addicted to the Calendar since, even though it's just keeping my doctor's appointments and reminding me when to eat my health foods mostly. If something goes wrong I'm going to buy a subscription to Exchange email somewhere. Like you, my setup is strictly for my home network lab, but definitely no MSDN subscriptions connected. Maybe a deploy or two every few years, or a network tool to try, and my WSUS (Windows Updates).
I don't think there is any MS OS that can't be run on Hyper-V - I've got a copy of DOS v6.22...
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Wow! I always thought those compatibilities lists at Microsoft were the Tablets of Moses, Volume 3, especially after reading forums on different hurdles after a bunch of searches over the years.
... a list of caveats a mile long with self hosting..., ...your ISP allows it...
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I doubt I'd consider a mail server without a static IP, which requires a Business package from my provider. There's at least one way around that with DynDns, but again my novice senses tell me to go with the true static in this case.
Stoic Joker:
but I'm wondering hypothetically if Exchange is feasible for you if you ignore the modest (for a few years old setup) cost and curtail or batch erase the logs on a small home setup like this.-mateek (January 10, 2015, 10:06 AM)
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The Exchange Transaction Logs are not 'Just logs" in the traditional sense. They have to be committed on a regular basis (like nightly) to avoid data loss. Also the thing to remember about mail servers is that the amount of mail that you expect to get has nothing to do with the amount of mail you will actually get ... :) ...And that distinction will have a huge effect on the log size. This is one of a multitude of reasons why Exchange tends to require a lot of system resources.
Shades:
Standard Windows 2012 license is about 6000USD (if memory serves me correctly)
Hardware can be modest, from experience I can tell you that it runs adequately on a dual core AMD CPU (2GHz) with only 2GByte of RAM and an old SATA hard disk. I run a trial version of MS-SQL Server 2012 (database has 50GByte content) on that and it doesn't disappoint.
But I wouldn't use any modern version of Exchange on any PC with less than 4GByte of RAM and that is already asking for trouble. Expanding RAM on an older PC can be quite costly and getting a new one with desirable amount of RAM will also make quite some cut in the budget. Exchange does require a big hard disk and the faster it is, the better.
Software that prevents spammers from creating havoc on a Exchange server with port(s) open the interwebs also comes with a price tag.
And all that for a home lab setup? I wouldn't be around anyone Ms. after the appointed Mr. asked for her consent on the purchase of this setup. You know, with MMA fights the opponents are more or less matched. After that Mr. & Ms. "conversation" I don't intend to be remembered as collateral damage... :P
40hz:
Standard Windows 2012 license is about 6000USD (if memory serves me correctly)
-Shades (January 10, 2015, 12:47 PM)
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A 2-CPU OEM edition runs between $600-$700 last I checked.
The standard 4-CPU retail package goes for about $1700.
The 2-CPU Essentials version costs about $400.
For home use, Essentials should handle anything you throw at it as long as you don't plan on running a lot of VMs. Essentials allows only one guest OS instance at at time. It does have good integration with Office 365 and 3rd party Exchange hosts however. So your own e-mail setup can be as simple or complicated as you decide to make it. At $4 per month per address for Exchange Online e-mail (hosted by Microsoft) with a 50Gb storage limit per mailbox (or $8/mo for unlimited storage +voicemail) it's a compelling proposition. Especially considering a 5-CAL license for Exchange Server butchers in around $1200.
FWIW, the cheapest way to get Microsoft Server (currently) is usually to buy it bundled with inexpensive server hardware. For example, you can get MS Server Standard for around $435 (or $170 for Essentials) when you buy it with a sub-$1K server from one very well known company. Similar savings can be found for most of the other major hardware brands. That's almost like paying substantially less than the cost of the license alone and getting your server hardware thrown in for free when it comes to the OTC Standard edition.
8)
mateek:
Stoic Joker,
Not meaning to pry, and if the answer isn't private information, if you were to go to Exchange with your current email loads, how much storage would you plan to have available?
...that distinction will have a huge effect on the log size. This is one of a multitude of reasons why Exchange tends to require a lot of system resources.
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