Re: Permanent email address?
On Tue, 17 May 2022 12:22:48 -0400
Edwin Zimmerman <edwin@plainemail.net> wrote:
> > If you can't get a static IP address for your home computer,
> > consider running your mail server on a cheap VPS (Virtual Private
> > Server). This may be cheaper than a static IP address for your
> > home, depending on your ISP.
> >
>
> Don't host your email on just any old cheap VPS. Many VPS providers
> have bad reputations for not policing spam senders, and as a
> consequence large email services like gmail often block whole ip
> ranges that belong to these VPS providers.
Also note that you very much do *not* need to run your own MTA to
achieve the goal of an address you own and can move from provider to
provider. Once you own the domain, you can set up your DNS MX records
to delegate to an email provider. If you later decide to switch email
providers or host your own MTA, you change the MX records to point to
the new provider or server. (If you have mail *stored* on your old
provider's server when you terminate your account with them, you'd need
to download it or lose it, obviously.) Hosting your own MTA makes the
problem ten times more complicated, and it's not at all clear that
there's any relevant advantage in terms of the stated objectives.
In particular, don't expect running your own MTA to gain you any kind
of privacy. Email is a store-and-forward protocol that may route
through an arbitrary number of intermediate servers on the way from
origin to destination. All of those servers at least temporarily store
a copy of every email that passes through, and any of them may be
permanently saving, reading, data-mining, or selling those messages. Any
email that's not encrypted is simply not a private communication,
regardless of who runs your MTA.
Cheers!
-Chris
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