How to make a web mail server

[nisheeth]

i wanted to know how can i make an economical web mail server on my home PC having windows XP.

I wish to use this feature at a website and give users a mail interface where they can send n receive mails.with something like [e-mail]
can someone guide me with this or may be with some small software which may help me.

i tried argosoft etc but they dont solve the purpose.I have a static IP ,a dedicated net connection too.

Now what i need to mke this web server??i want to make something which can be like suppose i make a website www.abc.com

so the users should be able to log in with www.abc.com/(mail) then they write there user id n password or by default it can go to the mail page with there user profile login.

[DavidB]

I think writing your own webmail software would be too much hassle.

Are you sure there is nothing else presently available that might serve your purpose? I know of several webmail services in which the software runs on the other company's servers (even though the mail is of the form [e-mail]). For example, there is gmail for your domain, which runs on Google's servers.

If you actually want the software to run on your own server, there are products for that too, but they cost money. I don't think they cost a lot, but they give you control, and I am sure they are worth it--the elimination of the headaches involved with writing your own software alone justify their cost.

[nisheeth]

I think writing your own webmail software would be too much hassle.

Are you sure there is nothing else presently available that might serve your purpose? I know of several webmail services in which the software runs on the other company's servers (even though the mail is of the form [e-mail]). For example, there is gmail for your domain, which runs on Google's servers.

If you actually want the software to run on your own server, there are products for that too, but they cost money. I don't think they cost a lot, but they give you control, and I am sure they are worth it--the elimination of the headaches involved with writing your own software alone justify their cost.

Thats fine...but can u give me some examples of web servers which come at relatively low cost....i tried cgmail server n argo soft etc...but i was not able to configure the web server as such...how ever these two softwares are more or less same n meant to be used to mail server...but everytime i tried to do that i was stuck n ultimaltly i didnt had any web mail account configuration

[DavidB]

Have you also checked out SNIP I believe they have scalable options (i.e. - they offer webmail software products that depend upon the number of users. Of course the cost varies with option.).

Offering a webmail service on your domain is a good way to do some viral marketing for your website (assuming your domain name is attractive); you can then attach a tag line to the bottom of each outgoing e-mail, like Hotmail does, and each user then does some advertising for you.

[randyprz]

I just started a site and I want to create an e-mail address <snip>... any ideas?<snip>

[romtoc]

try XAMMP (APACHE server with mail function) SNIP

[hum_tum7471]

hi
i am shan so we are make a web server..........how to make,,,,,,,,

Internet Information Services or more popularly known as IIS is a lightweight web server process included in the XP installer disc. IIS on XP is the ideal choice for testing native Microsoft web applications like ASP and .Net. You may also be interested in my previous post on how to setup an FTP server using IIS.

By default, IIS is not installed on XP so you will need to get your XP installer in order to install it. Pop it in your CD drive and then wait for the XP installer window to appear. Click “Install optional Windows components”:

The Windows Components Wizard will appear, check the box next to IIS then click Next:

Wait until the files are copied then click “Finish” to install the IIS component. After installing it should be under the Control Panel > Administrative Tools. Click “Internet Information Services” to open the IIS manager window.

In the IIS window you should be able to see your computer’s name and under it the web sites hosted on that computer. By default it will only be a single “Default Web Site”.

To add web files to that web folder, open the folder C:\Inetpub\wwwroot (assuming drive C is where you installed Windows). Put your HTML files here along with their required image folders and files. To set a default page, save an “index.htm” file inside the wwwroot folder:

If you did it correctly, you should be able to browse http://localhost/ with the index.htm page as the default page:

If you use a lot of ASP and .Net web applications, IIS is a good testing platform on Windows XP. Since XP has a limited number of allowed connections, don’t expect it to be able to handle more than 10 HTTP client connections (maybe even less if you use XP for other shared connections like directory sharing and database hosting).

It is useful only for quick and dirty alpha testing so if you want to do a robust testing, use a real Windows Server (not XP) with IIS instead. You can read my post on how to install IIS on a Windows 2003 Server to get started.