What’s Involved in Creating a Dedicated Email Server?
If you run a business of any size, having a secure server for company emails is a must. Unfortunately, many businesses still rely on shared servers or VPS hosting options for their email needs. Not only can this put your company’s sensitive information at risk, but (depending on the industry in which your business operates) it could also open you up to HIPAA fines and penalties. By using a dedicated server for email hosting, you can keep sensitive information safe and enjoy many other practical benefits.
What is a Dedicated Email Server?
A dedicated email server is hosted only for your business email. This type of mail server hosting doesn’t share resources with other users but enjoys its very own dedicated hardware and data center space.
Benefits of Dedicated Email Server Hosting
Using a dedicated hosting company for your email server can benefit your business in some ways. For starters, dedicated servers mean never having to share resources with other users – so 100 percent of your server’s processing speed, storage, and other features will be committed to your company email at all times. This means you can enjoy faster speeds and greater reliability, especially when you opt for a dedicated server host that offers 100 percent uptime service level guarantees.
It also gives you more control over maximum file sizes on attachments and other aspects of your business email.
Perhaps even more importantly, dedicated server hosting for email keeps communications among your employees much more secure than they would be with a shared service. This can give you added protection and peace of mind, especially if your employees frequently deal with sensitive data (such as customer payment information or even medical files that may be protected under HIPAA laws).
How to Set Up
Many business owners aren’t sure where to begin when it comes to setting up a dedicated email server, but it’s actually a lot easier than you might think. You’ll need to begin by authenticating DNS records, such as:
- Sender Policy Framework (SPF)
- DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKM)
- Domain-Based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance (DMARC)
The purpose of authenticating these records is to ensure that your mail server will process all new emails and files accordingly.
Next, you’ll need to change your server’s hostname from a generic one (which is automatically assigned to your server) to a new one that matches your outgoing mail IP address record. The purpose of completing this step is to reduce the risk of outgoing emails sent from your company addresses being marked as “spam.” When choosing a hostname for your server, keep in mind that it may be visible to others – you’ll want to choose wisely.
If you’re transferring emails from an old server, be sure to also retrieve a list of existing employee accounts that will need to be relocated. You will then need to transfer or create the new accounts in your corresponding cPanel account.
Conclusion
Having dedicated server hosting for your company email is a wise choice regardless of your industry. You, your employees, and your clients can all enjoy added security and peace of mind on a dedicated email server.