[ale] mail server with dynamic IP?

[Chuck Peters]

On Thu, Jan 20, 2011 at 7:44 AM, John <jdp at algoloma.com> wrote:

>  *Google*
> Google is an advertising company. I'm certain that many companies would
> prefer to not have their email go through a company of that type. For
> personal emails, this may be fine, for corporate emails, privacy matters.
>

That's sort of like saying GE is an appliance company.  My father used to
joke he worked for a light bulb company and he did satellite navigation for
GPS and other systems at GE.

Google does a lot more than advertising and that includes services beyond
just email for corporations.  See
http://www.google.com/apps/intl/en/business/index.html and compare it to
what others offer for businesses.

I was a sysadmin for a messaging ASP and I provided better services for free
than what the ASP was charging big bucks for.  Algoloma.com advertises IT
consulting among your services, maybe Google isn't right for some of your
clients but I think Google's services would be a cost effective option for
many corporations/businesses.

cp at hevelius:~$ host algoloma.com
algoloma.com has address 174.129.88.121
algoloma.com mail is handled by 5 mail1.algoloma.com.
algoloma.com mail is handled by 10 mail.algoloma.com.
cp at hevelius:~$ host mail.algoloma.com
mail.algoloma.com is an alias for host260.hostmonster.com.
host260.hostmonster.com has address 74.220.215.60
cp at hevelius:~$ host mail1.algoloma.com
mail1.algoloma.com has address 24.131.41.49
cp at hevelius:~$ host 74.220.215.60
60.215.220.74.in-addr.arpa domain name pointer host260.hostmonster.com.
cp at hevelius:~$ host 24.131.41.49
49.41.131.24.in-addr.arpa domain name pointer
c-24-131-41-49.hsd1.ga.comcast.net.

It appears you are trusting Hostmonster with your mail, what is so different
about trusting Google with your mail?

I would bet money that Google has more rigorous processes and at least as
secure software for protecting the privacy of email than Hostmonster.
However Hostmonster is a smaller company and not as many people have access
to their servers and it is less of a target for various attacks than Google.

Have you had issues sending mail to some people?  Did you notice your
primary mx is listed on some of the blacklists?
http://www.mxtoolbox.com/SuperTool.aspx?action=blacklist%3a24.131.41.49



> *DHCP*
> My connection is DHCP, but my IP hasn't changed in years.  Since 1998, I've
> had about 4 IPs total (I recall 3). The last change happened in 2007. Still,
> having a 1-2 hour DNS refresh period (IP check every 5 min) is useful to
> limit any inaccessible server periods. Not all ISPs allow DHCP to last that
> long and will force IP changes daily.
>

I can set our cable modem at home to use a static IP even though we aren't
supposed to.  I could run mail that way, but I would do it with the
expectation that I could, and probably will lose mail.  Our cable company
recently changed it's TOS and pricing for a static IP we had for years.  And
they suck for calling us up and saying we have a week to migrate off the
static or pay another $60 a month for our pitiful 40KB upload speeds...


> Having a secondary MX record (plus server) in an alternate location is
> useful to prevent mail loss, even if you have a static IP and data center
> located server(s).
>

If it was only that simple.  Have you noticed a lot of spam going from your
backup mx to your primary mx and the primary not accepting delivery?  A lot
of spammers send mail to the backup MX because they often just relay to the
primary without doing the same antispam stuff the primary MX does.... Mail
can be a PITA!  Most mail servers will retry sending messages from 2-5 days
if the server is not available, so unless someone pays me I am not going to
bother with the secondary mx... And I haven't had any complaints about lost
mail in years.


Chuck
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