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If you own your own domain, you’ll have the ability to set up email addresses using your domain name.
Some domain hosts will even provide this functionality built in – though this often comes with limitations, so check with your provider if this is the case.
Hosting an email server yourself can be a complex task, but is ultimately rewarding. Here are a few reasons to consider creating a self-hosted email server, along with a few downsides to keep in mind should you take the plunge.
More Professional Appearance
Probably the main reason to host an email server yourself. This is particularly true if you’re a business owner.
Tying together your domain name and email address gives a more cohesive online presence. In addition, it provides further reinforcement that the company is legitimate.
thebestcleaningcompanyuk12@gmail.com
contact@thebestcleaningcompany.co.ukWhich of these would you trust more?
Limitless Email Addresses
Well, not quite, I’m sure there’s a limit to the length of an email address. But you can make pretty much any address you want. A caveat here is that web hosts might limit the number of addresses you can make – check that they provide enough before commiting.
This gives a great degree of flexibility, for you or your business.
As you’re the only person/entity to control your domain, any address is open and available to you – no more ‘the account already exists’ messages for you.
Multiple Addresses Per Inbox
Using a large number of email addresses might sound a bit of a logistical nightmare. How will you keep track of all of the addresses?
With your own email server, you can direct any user@ account to the inbox you want on your system.
Inboxes on your email server are defined by the system login, with email names assigned to a system user by your server config.
For example, you could split your accounts into categories:
shopping@yourdomain.com
utilities@yourdomain.com
work@yourdomain.com
banking@yourdomain.comEach of these accounts can be directed to the same system mailbox, making it simple to see all of your emails in one place.
Spam Reduction
A follow on from the previous point.
With control over the email addresses your server responds to, addresses that become spam targets can be easily removed from your setup – just make sure you move anything important to a new address first.
This can be useful when signing up to ‘junk’ websites, or anything you are reluctant to give a ‘proper’ email address to.
Extra Security
It should be said, that the security of your accounts is heavily impacted by your server configuration. A poorly configured server will offer no security whatsoever, so don’t get complacent.
That said, with control of your server, you can limit who can access your accounts.
On top of passwords, features such as IP filtering can lock out anyone outside of your network, making it practically impossible to gain access to your email server.
Impress an Employer
Looking for a job? Email correspondence through your own domain will look more impressive than using a standard outlook/gmail account.
An email from employername@yoursite.com will give a better first impression than an email from daveisthebest2k22@gmail.com. Though I’m sure Dave is great.
Want to go a step further? Use custom addresses for each company you’re getting in touch with.
Any Downsides?
Setting up and managing your email server is not trivial. An email server consists of multiple components, each of which needs to be set up correctly to complete the server setup. We have a set of tutorials which should help you to get started.
Server security and backups will come down to you – it’s up to you to decide the importance you place on your emails.
Server downtime, due to system or network issues, also need to be considered. When your server is down, emails are not going to be received. Can you afford to miss emails? And how can you mitigate the risks?