I have a demo of 2003 and was wondering how hard it is to set up an e-mail server. I was planning on buying the domain [www.DarkMindsProject.com] and having it point to my IP where my router would forward it to my email server. It would only have 5 or so accounts and be running with only misc. update reboots.
Are there are problems with that setup?
Anything that I should take into concideration?
I would like to be able to access the mail from outlook or another e-mail client from school or a friends house.

The specs of the system are:
Gateway Profile 3
900mhz PIII
512mb PC133 RAM
40GB HD
Windows 2003 Trial

will this server be on 24/7 and what kind of connection speed it has liek upload/download

If you have Small Business Server then you will get Exchange bundled with it. Most of the features n Exchange are not needed for what you are doing. Are you using POP accounts? IF so look at the POP Connector in Exchange which will allow you to collect POP email and send it to an exchange mailbox or public folder. Exchange also supports Outlook Web Access so you should be able to via your emails from anywhere in the world.

Good luck its not a very easy learning curve, but i find playing the best way of learning.

Ruffneck

since when does Exchange come with the trail version?

yes it will be on 24/7

Its a cable connection. 3mb not sure of the exact up/down ratings

If you have the Trial version of 2003 Small Business Sever

I does exist I have it here in front of me.

I registered for Microsoft's trial software on thier website and have recieved nearly everything. XP, 2003 Web, 2003 Standard, 2003 SBS, SQL, Sharepoint etc, etc all on CD's.

i downloaded it from MS(180day) lets put it like that

well the up is a major bit but yeh sbs2003prem is so good for first timers but the trial i ordered took about 3 weeks to get


OH yeh it does come with exchange

its not going to be used for large files, just PPT presentations, .doc's access/excel files ect.

My school email is always going down and i dont like to trust other parties with files i need

I think with your current setup you will not be able to do it without some email server software. Exchange would be ideal, but there are other third party software packages available take a look at http://www.networkingfiles.com/email/email5.htm

Hope this helps

Huh? What exactly does a email server have to do with files? Do you want this as a server to send and recv email - or a place to put and get files?

Either way - you sure and the h_ll do not need 2k3 anything to be able to setup a email and or ftp server, etc.. Sure if you have a trial - you could play with it. But as you stated - this is a "TRIAL", that does not mean you can use this forever. And according to the eula, you can not use it as production. I would think - using it as your email server, or ftp to get actual files you need/want for normall everyday use - is not in the spirit of "TRIAL" and or testing, etc..

What did you say the trial was for? 180 days - so what you get it up and running, like it! Are you then going to be willing to fork over the cash for either SBS, and or 2k3 server and Exchange? Not CHEAP

There are plenty of FREE, easy to use and configure email servers - that you could use. Once being Mercury mail, www.pmail.com - Tie this with a web interface, say squirrel mail, or horde, etc.. And hey - pretty slick setup.

I would highly recommend against actually attempting to use it for incoming or outgoing mail. For starters - is it even OK with AUP to run servers? Is smtp even open by your ISP. Quite a few actually block port 25 in an attempt to limit the amount of spam flowing out of their networks due to misconfigured machines, virus infected spam senders, etc.. If you on a dynamic IP, you could have issues with IP changes and people sending you mail, etc..

When you think about it - the cost of actually just leaving your "server" on for 24/7/365 (shoot for the cost of leaving on for 1 month - you could most likley pay for a full year of hosting and domain name) will cost you quite a bit more than what it would cost ot host the email on a server designed to do such a thing. If you are not happy with your ISP mail - there are plenty of FREE emails providers (gmail, hotmail, yahoo, all come to mind), or for like $40 a year could have your domain, and a webhost to host the email, along with file storage, etc.. etc..

As to providing personal access to your files on your home machine, network - hey I agree, this can come in very handy!! But again you do not need a full blown server OS, ie 2k3 to accomplish this. There are plenty of ftp server software packages available, quite a few for FREE, and not a limited to so many day trial, etc.. Cerberus and Serv-U come to mind, the list is quite LONG!!

Again you really need to check with your ISP, to ensure the running of any server is not against your AUP.

edit: as to your machine - yes that will run 2k3 without any issues. And can surely run ftp and or email without any issues.

I used MERCURY, a free mail server....it works good.

link: http://www.pmail.com/

I'm using the 2k3 version because I want to be able to learn how to configure everything. I've used it to set up a http server, I've done a ftp server now I wanna configure a mail server.

The computer is left on 24/7 anyway, and my ISP has never had a problem with me having anyother type of server.

Basicly I want to learn more about how to configure the OS. I know I dont NEED 2k3 but its the most up to date version and it looks good if I can say that I have some experience with some server configuration. Even on a small scale

I have a full version of 2000 Advanced that I got from an admin at my old job when they upgraded to 2003, but I would rather learn the newer stuff.

well 2k3 comes with a basic smtp/pop server, and included documentation should give you everything you need to get it up and running..

http://www.smartertools.com/Products/Smart...l/Overview.aspx

It's free for one domain, and I've used it, very good.

http://www.mailenable.com

Perfect for what you are looking to do.