Little Server Guy - Info from a Guy Trying to Run a Little WS2003 Server on the Cheap

Gateway Filtering

Actually the huge thorn in my side that drove me to run my own server was email. I continued to struggle with shared email servers provided with the shared hosting plans I had used. I simply could not consistently get my promotional mailings to my confirmed opt-in subscribers.

Running a mail server means filtering. I found this out after about 12 hrs online. Because I have web sites with published email addresses, and because thousands of people have email addresses belonging to my sites in their address books, I get a horrendous amount of spam and worm mail. More than half the messages to my mail server are such junk.

I may say more later. My ideal would be to use Symantec's spam filter since I percieve they have the most comprehensive identification. But... unlike the $30 programs you get from them for a workstation, you are talking aroudn $1000 for anything that runs on a server. Not.

After hunting and searching, I found Trend Micro's Virus Wall. This is a gateway type filter on both incoming and outgoing traffic on http, smtp, pop, and ... something else. It provides both spam and virus identification. It cost about $160 for a two year subscription. I bought it on a 30 day money back guarantee and found it quite suitable. I am only using the smtp filter. I'm not concerned with anything coming via pop or http.

Virus Wall is not a scanner. I have another page on that.

Comments? Combine the word "richard" with the words "server guy" with no spaces or punctuation and stick it in front of the domain this page is hosted on. That should get an electonic message to me.
(c) 2006 Richard Skerritt