Yeasterday we talked about the first server service I would suggest you should “outsource” to a third party and do not run it yourself. It was DNS and as stated it’s easy to set it up when you read a few tutorials, but the security risks involved and the knowledge required are just too risky and it’s good to leave it to someone with more time and experience.
Mail server
Today I will continue in this discussion and introduce another kind of service I think would be a prime candidate for outsourcing. It is the email service and the mail server itself. I have run across many articles on the Internet suggesting leaving mail services to big companies with resources and knowledge. And I think it is even a better idea then leaving DNS to be managed by a third party. The one reason is the volume of spam rising each year. If you are thinking about setting up and using your own mail server than spam will find you sooner or later and thus I think it is very important to really think about leaving email server services to someone else. By “someone else” I mean someone with the resources and know-how.
Many web hosting companies do offer not only web hosting, but also mail hosting services and thus you can choose one of the offers and leave the mail problem to them. As I said in my articles about DNS it is a very good idea to divide some of the server roles between at least two companies. I know it can cost you more. It could cost you more money and more time to set-up, but if you think your business needs to feel secure than it is a very good solution to put at least the DNS and MAIL server to some other location than your web hosting. Well, we covered DNS in the previous three articles now let’s cover the MAIL server.
Why is it important…?
I think many people like to have all the things they need in one place. It is perfectly fine, because it is more organized and it takes less time to manage the whole “thing”. There are times when this “all in one place” strategy turns to be a big mistake. It is when the web host is hit by some kind of trouble. Shared hosting and VPS [dedicated. etc.] are affected but each type is affected only to a certain degree thus not everything mentioned here applies to each case 
With email you need to be sure it runs the whole time. It’s because it is the main point how your visitors or customers are able to talk to you online. And if your email server gets compromised than you are really in big trouble. I don’t say this happens all the time, but there are times when a mail server gets compromised or a web host gets compromised. These are times when it is of a big advantage to divide some of the services to more then just one provider.
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Shared hosting…
While on a shared hosting platform the email service is handled by the web host, but it depends on their reputation, experience, knowledge and measures they use how good you are protected. While on a shared hosting paltform it is OK to use the same host for web hosting and mail hosting, but it would be better to move it somewhere else just in case. There are some services out there which can make this a great shift and one you will never regret.
VPS, dedicated…
Shared hosting is about sharing resources and the server. The webhost controls pretty everything and you as a customer are not able to change anything. But as a VPS or dedicated customer you are pretty much getting the level of control which can make you the hero or destroy everything… . The web host only takes care of you and that you do not brake their rules, bu the security thing is your responsibility. And thus be very careful with running too many server services on only one machine
Conclusion
This should serve only as an introduction into this topic an I will discuss the possible solution in my next articles. Until than have a nice day and see you next time!
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