This is the final installment of our five part series recommending against trying to run your email on your own server. The past postings have covered the advent of cost-effective broadband internet connections, the effects that SPAM has had on email, and the costs of both purchasing the server and paying a consultant to ensure that it continues to function smoothly.

In part 1 of this series, we discussed reasons why affordable broadband has eliminated one of the primary needs for a local mail server. In part two, we will discuss SPAM and it's effects on how mail is transferred from server to server.

In the past, one server would send to another. As long as the email domain and username matched with the server, the message was delivered to the user's inbox. With the advent of junkmail, systems administrators had to put plans in place to prevent some email from being allowed.

The senders of this "spam" junkmail changed tactics, and the administrators had to adjust for it. This continued until now the typical server has multiple layers of junk controls and administrators are forced to become familiar with odd procedures such as Yahoo DomainKeys, Bayesian filtering, SPF, reverse lookups - and dozens or hundreds of other minute technical details.

A mail server that was configured 5 years ago and has gone unchanged is either non-functional, or delivers so much SPAM to people that it's useless. The alternative is to pay a "consultant" or a full-time staff member who knows what they are doing to make the adjustments over the years. This is both expensive and difficult for the common business person.

The answer is to get your email from Green Bay Net. We are already maintaining email for thousands of users. Because of this, we can offer email with all of the benefits of your local mail server and none of the downsides.

• Don't Run Your Own Email Server! (Part 1 of 5)
• Don't Run Your Own Email Server! (Part 2 of 5)
• Don't Run Your Own Email Server! (Part 3 of 5)
• Don't Run Your Own Email Server! (Part 4 of 5)
• Don't Run Your Own Email Server! (Part 5 of 5)