Hi Jamers,
I have setup my own Apache www server under Windows 11 serving my small business web pages. Then at that moment I also made the decision to setup my own email server. I thought to myself: Ah this is going to be EASY. right? Searching for it I realized there weren't that many options and the options seemed awkward and underwhelming. I opted for James that looked the most serious and apt for my needs. It was tough to setup, but it worked. The email was tough to get through at first but setting up DKIM and the certificates were instrumental. So I thought: well this works fine but somethings amiss. I start James inside a batch file in a command prompt windows within a Windows 11 session which starts at startup. So, it's a bit 'shaky' I'd say. (Windows less than ideal for that purpose) (issue #1) Then Gmail won't accept the IMAP from James it seems and email clients are finnicky with it (why?). I do use Outlook on my phone, but I don't receive notification from the emails sent to my James server on my phone (actually, sometimes I do, but not always !!) (issue #3). . Then okay well this works after all, but what is my next move, and what going on? Stay with James or what? If I stay with James, what should I do to make it rugged and reliable 100%? What will I do when I hire employees? Needs to be stable and rugged. THEN I read THIS on Reddit: "As some one who has done self-hosted email for personal and small biz, its basically all cons... Its seems like a great idea, having unlimited free email addresses for all your domains. Its not *that* hard to set up as well. The issue is the big email providers are basically set up like the email mafia. Mail to gmail and outlook go spam. You think you have solved the issue, then a new recipient informs you mail in going to spam now. You spend hours to days trying to figure out why, and how to fix it. Now rinse are repeated every few months. You also have to figure out if the IP (range) you can use is already blacklisted. Most VPS and consumer/small biz ISP are. It's a massive pain the ass and not worth it unless you need 100's of emails address or require that level of security. 1/10, would not recommend it. Pony up the few bucks to gmail to get a reliable email and great WebClient." -- https://www.reddit.com/r/selfhosted/comments/107iodp/self_hosted_email_serve r/ That explains it all. James is not a temporary solution, but one of the best solutions to the ridiculous problem of email access that's not "Big Corporate". So, my questions (any thoughts welcomed though): * If I want to enable James in a manner that is as stable and robust as can be (not in a silly command prompt window at startup) and robust (will receive outlook notifications and never in spam box, etc.), what is the best approach to implement? * Switch to Linux? If so which Linux? * * What are my options really for stable, sustainable email? * * Do you get emails sent to spam from your James * I actually have not seen this issue since setting up DKIM and certificates, but who knows.. * * Alternatively, should I pay for an email service, if so which one? * Kind regards, Cordialement, Guy
