Heyhey!
My fiance has been struggling with lack of space in his current email, plus his current provider (web.de) doesn’t have the most professional name, which is bothering him because he’s currently applying for jobs.
So I was looking to get him a nice clean email for Valentine’s, that has a simple name and enough space for a while.
Problem is - I’m kinda dumb and have very little idea of how web hosting and email work (despite working as a Software Engineer…). So I could use some input on what steps I should be taking to get what I’m looking for while avoiding the pitfalls and hidden costs that some service providers have.
So far, I’ve found a nice {hisLastname}.cc domain on namecheap for 50€/10 years. Namecheap also offers a basic email service for 14€ per year, altough I’m not sure whether 5GB is enough space. The next higher email would be 40€ per year for 30GB of space. That seems more like what I’d be looking for, but also seems a bit expensive?
Does anyone have tips on where else I might want to look? How expensive would it be to just run my own email server? Getting a little homeserver rack has been a goal in our hosehold anyways, we just haven’t had the time to look into what exactly to get.
What would I do once the domain (and maybe email service) is bought? Like, what does the migration from existing services look like? Would I have to set up specific software anywhere just to access the mails?
This is a big question and this is just a short reply.
Buying a domain allows you to move email provider without needing to change the address.
Start with the 5GB plan with the domain you bought.
DO NOT BUY the domain from the email provider. Make the two completely separate. Otherwise you might lose control of your own domain.
Don’t worry about migrating historical email until you’re happy with whatever you set-up.
Once it’s all running, you can then go about setting up self hosting, but I’d think twice before self-hosting email. There’s a lot of scope for your email being blocked by recipients.
Another way to go is use Gmail and redirect email from your domain to Gmail (or any other provider).
PS. The steps are: