Custom Email Server
RUNNINGRole: System Administrator & DevOps Engineer
Timeline: 3 months (Mar 2023 - May 2023)
Why I built my own email server from scratch (and why it was worth it)
PROJECT OVERVIEW
"Why would you build your own email server when Gmail exists?"
Because you can't teach AI to manage what you don't understand yourself.
I wanted to know EXACTLY how email works - from SMTP handshakes to spam filtering, from DNS configuration to security protocols. So I built the entire thing from the ground up.
Postfix for sending, Dovecot for receiving, OpenDKIM for authentication, SpamAssassin for filtering, and custom monitoring dashboards to watch it all work.
The result? 99.9% uptime over 12 months, zero spam in my inbox, 100% deliverability to major providers, and 50% cost savings compared to hosted solutions.
But most importantly - I now understand email systems well enough to automate them intelligently.
KEY FEATURES
- ▸Complete self-hosted email solution
- ▸Advanced spam and virus filtering
- ▸DKIM, SPF, and DMARC implementation
- ▸Multi-domain support
- ▸Webmail interface with modern UI
- ▸Automated SSL certificate management
- ▸Real-time monitoring and alerting
- ▸Automated backup and disaster recovery
CHALLENGES & SOLUTIONS
- ✦Ensuring high deliverability rates to major email providers
- ✦Implementing robust security measures against attacks
- ✦Managing server resources efficiently under load
- ✦Maintaining compliance with email security standards
RESULTS & IMPACT
- ●99.9% uptime over 12 months
- ●Zero spam in inbox with 99.5% spam detection rate
- ●100% deliverability to major email providers
- ●50% cost reduction compared to hosted email solutions
TECH STACK
Postfix
Dovecot
OpenDKIM
SpamAssassin
ClamAV
Fail2ban
Nginx
Let's Encrypt
PostgreSQL
PROJECT INFO
Status:
RUNNING
Timeline:
3 months (Mar 2023 - May 2023)
Role:
System Administrator & DevOps Engineer
Tech Focus:
Postfix/Dovecot