[ocelotpotpie]

This is a bit of a misunderstanding of how SMTP works.

If you run and maintain your own SMTP server and it goes down, you won't be able to send email.

Everyone else will still be able to send email to you, and it will be delivered to you, and you'll be able to read it.

Now, if you break Postfix or something on your server and start bouncing emails then you can be in trouble, or if you mess up the DNS somehow.

But generally running your own mail server is a set it up and leave it alone type of affair. Any junior level hacker can cobble one together with guides online and have it up and running with no problems in a few hours.

[andreasvc]

Senders will keep mail for you in the queue only for a limited time, after a few days (IIRC) your mail will bounce. So if your host or ISP unfairly takes down your SMTP server and you have to go to court with them, you WILL lose mail.

Generally, running an SMTP server is quite a responsibility: not losing mail, not being exploited to send spam. What matters is not so much that you can set up in a few hours, but whether you want to take on that responsibility.

[ajross]

What? No. You just get another host somewhere (free amazon micro EC2, etc...) and point your DNS to that via your registrar. The only thing that can prevent mail service with longer than ~24 hours latency is a seizure of the domain.

[nknight]

No, the misunderstanding is yours. Postfix IS an SMTP server. SMTP servers connect to other SMTP servers to deliver mail. Your mail comes into an SMTP server just as it goes out an SMTP server.

[ajross]

ocelotpotpie meant that SMTP servers are designed to reliably queue mail and retransmit. If your mail server goes down, you don't lose mail. The senders will just try again later. Downtime on an SMTP server impacts delivery latency, not reliability.