What is a Private Email Server?

Before you can understand what is a private email server, you need to understand the definition of a server. A private or personal server is a computer owned and operated by you exclusively. It requires Internet access, a power source, and all the operating systems, programs, and software needed to provide services.

The private email server is the electronic mail system provided by the private server that you manage yourself. Contrast this to commercial email servers like Gmail or Yahoo where the companies can access anything in your email inbox.

These email service providers often even scan your emails to better their ad-targeting strategies. They also open you up to fraud when their databases get hacked since they contain millions of peoples’ private information.

How Much Does a Private Email Server Cost?

Private email server costs vary greatly depending on what equipment you already own. You need a computer to act as a private server and a place to host your private mail service. So, you may need to purchase a new or used desktop computer.

If you choose to buy a new desktop computer, expect to pay around $400 for a solid machine capable of hosting your email server. Or, you can repurpose an older one to save some money.

If you plan to keep the server on 24/7, you need to factor in the electricity costs for having the computer on all the time. Figure around $10-$20 per month for the extra electricity.

You must also consider your current broadband service reliability. Slow connections and connection failures will cause your server to go offline until the broadband provider resumes service, so you may need to pay for better service. It can cost anywhere from $50-$100 per month for better broadband depending on where you live.

A private email server then will cost around $500 to set up. You can maintain your personal email server for $70-$100 per month based on the services you choose. Other non-essential costs to consider include buying a backup in case of power outages and regular maintenance.

Your private email server does not go through a commercial service and you maintain responsibility for all back-ups. Choose between a cloud backup or a physical hard drive for backing up. Cloud services run between $10 and $300 per month while a physical external hard drive costs around $100 for up to a terabyte of storage.

Do not forget maintenance costs either. Running your server all the time will result in faster breakdowns. Expect to occasionally pay for new hardware, like a $10 replacement cooling fan, to keep your private server from overheating.

What private server should I get?

So how much does a private email server cost? It really depends on what equipment you own already, your electricity costs, and the reliability of broadband in your area. 

The size of server you require will largely depend on how many active mailbox users you will have, storage required for each user, as well as the volume of inbound and outbound mail.

We recommend at least 512MB of RAM and 30GB of disk space for a basic email server.

Introducing components like spam and virus filtering tend to introduce higher CPU and memory requirements. A server with 2GB of RAM and 2 CPU cores should provide enough system resources for most personal mail server needs. ServerMania Hybrid Servers offer the perfect combination of performance and cost to deliver the best private email servers possible.

See Also: (Live Webinar) Meet ServerMania: Transform Your Server Hosting Experience