I’d like to regain my privacy a bit so I’m looking for an “easy” cloud and mail solution.
I have a personnal domain name that I would like to use for my cloud (I wanted it to be Nextcloud because I heard nice things), but may be ecloud, and I also want to use the domain name for my emails (and alliases).
I wonder if I can use it for the emails in an easy way (not install a mail server that can be jeopardized or attacked) with Murena ?
Also, is there another way than selfhost the cloud on a VPS but still benefit from my domain name and have it in a “private” way ?
The most important for me is to be able to use my domain name for my mail adresses and alliases (for me and my girlfriend if possible). The private cloud is not a priority.
Yes you can use any DNS domain for email, as long as it is provided by a registrar involved in propagation, and you have access to records (AKA zone).
Note: this is known to work with 1st-level domains (xxx.com, xxx.net, etc), I never tried with subdomains (xxx.anyprovider.com).
Of course next question to come is: where, how?
The selfhosted Murena Cloud setup is quite straightforward, as long as you carefully read the doc and fulfill the prerequisites.
Once installed and after optional tuning, it’s effortless to run (call it “Fire and Forget” ).
About hosting by a provider and privacy:
for enhanced privacy, you may rent a physical server instead of a VPS, but it’s way more expensive. As these hardware are often too powerful for a simple selfhosted, you may share with friends or other activities, for the sake of profitability
whatever is the underlying hardware, network interception is very unlikely as everything is encrypted unless you choose otherwise
you must have access to PTR reverse record (IP address to DNS name): it is mandatory to have email to work correctly (checked by selfhosted setup script, won’t go further if not properly setup). AFAIK, some pure-Cloud providers won’t allow PTR editing unless you build an expensive complex set-up (Azure, AWS, etc)
avoid residential IP address for your server (like home ISP): some whole networks are flagged in anti-malware worldwide databases or suffer filtering by ISP, and email may not work at all
it is very important nowadays to maintain a very good “reputation” if you want your email traffic to work flawlessly; having a “clean” IP address for your email server is very important to have in mind (*). Pure-Cloud players and residential addresses ranges often fails into “bad actors” category (although pure-Cloud providers often have leverage to “clean up” an address or range, but it’s time-consuming with their support)
(*) I had once a provider delivered a public IP address that was previously used for spamming/fishing: despite all my efforts I had to resign and ask the provider for a new one!
Please note that in some places, renting a VPS is cheaper than the electricity bill for a home-hosted …
Last reminder: with a selfhosted, no matter where is it, your data will always be your data. That means: you can always copy/move your data out of the server, and cancel. So it may worth a try!
Hope this will help you, please ask if you need further details or any help.
You can always choose a light solution like https://mailinabox.email/ (they are others, can’t remember right now).
Some sentences in my previous post about IP address “reputation”, PTR, etc still apply.
Please note that you won’t get support for such solutions, here
Oh Thanks for your complete answer. You’re right a server is too expensive, and sometimes even à VPS for me.
Actually if possible I don’t want a solution of self hosting the mail service because i’ve Heard that you are often attacked or spammed, or even put in the spams.
Isn’t there a service that I can take advantage of ?
You could ask murena if “BYO domain” is on the roadmap. There’s no publicly tracked item on it yet.
If you want to have it now, there are email / webmail hosters that offer byo-domain and card/cal/webdav-sync in the 3€/month realm (not nextcloud, other groupware, check service sites for *dav details)
To go managed nextcloud, there is a community and partner list at nextcloud, and a feedback forum category for providers. For byo-domain, the pricing plans I see are in the 5-6€/month range
Some DNS registrars offer a cheap hosting, including email, for a DNS domain hosting.
For example, in France: https://www.lws.fr/nom-de-domaine.php.
So the cheapest way may be to check with your current registrar, or transfer your domain to one offering such services.
Also, not including DNS domain fee, a CAX11 VPS at Hetzner is enough for selfhosted Murena cloud, and only costs 4.55€ per month (if you’re in France, may be cheaper elsewhere).
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