Know nothing about web servers but

[shankapotomus]

...I am trying to think of a way to not be at the mercy of web based email providers that sell my information to third party advertisers. I know about Lavabit.com email but their email accounts don't have enough options for me.

I was going to try this way of setting up a server:

http://www.instantfundas.com/2008/03/how-to-setup-your-own-web-server-at.html

Building off of DuckDuckGo's idea of privacy, I want to start my own personal (just for me, no end users) web based email server so I don't have to deal with third party advertisers or somebody else managing my email service. And then just give that email address out to friends who can contact at my own server that I run myself so I know no one is managing my email other than me.

Does this make any sense to someone who knows about this stuff or do I not understand web servers? Once I have my own web server set up, would the emails be on my computer? I prefer if they were completely web based so I don't use up more space on my computer.

Is this or something close to it possible? Thanks!

 

[tripflex]

You probably want to look into setting up an account with a hosting provider online. You will need that redundancy of both power and connectivity to make sure your emails are sent/received.

Say you set it up on a computer at home...your internet goes out or computer shuts down due to problems or loss of power.

Any emails being sent out or sent in will be rejected due to no connection.


I would recommend a few different things. One you could setup your own domain name and just purchase cheap hosting account ($1/mo type) and setup emails through cpanel and use those webmails.

The other option would be to purchase a VPS, for the cheapest option would run around $10/mo for an unmanaged VPS. You could use that VPS to setup your own mail server and web based email as you see fit.

Afterlogic offers a free webmail software that i have become very fond of. Very simple but easy to use.

http://www.afterlogic.org/webmail-lite


If you have any questions PM or email me and i'll be happy to help