Implementation cost of a setting up a mail server


If your intention is to implement your own mail server plus coupling it as a web server, the estimated cost would consist of the following ;


1. Monthly expenditure for maintaining the bandwidth.
Normally would be DSL or ADSL as leased line tends to be very costly, on hardware to purchase to support the infrastructure as well.

2. Initial layout for purchase of a server.
A mid-range P4 2.0 Ghz with 256 MB RAM and disk space of 40 GB would be more than sufficient. Alternatively you can use your existing server without incurring too much additional expenditures.

3. Initial layout for purchase of mail server software, Exchange, Domino or some other commercial software.
You may also opt to use freely available open source or freeware software like Mercury. Unfortunately Mercury Mail Server does not have a web interface but you can use another freeware Squirrel Mail to integrated it to work with Mercury.

4. If you have intention to add a web server to the machine.
You can also use the built-in Internet Information Server (IIS) on any Windows 2000 operating system.


The minimal cost of setting up a mail server running on a 512K DSL Link to the Internet are estimated as follows ;


Server and hardware router cost @ S$2000.00
Patching and configuration of Windows 2000 @ S$800.00
Configuration of router
Server hardening and lockdown
installation of mail server and web server software
Setting DNS server and mail routing
Configuration of mail and relay policy, SPAM filtering, email virus scanning
Setting up of mail server web interface


Monthly cost of maintaining a ADSL-based Internet presence will be around $290 for a 256K downstream speed and $380 for a 512K. These are monthly cost that you will have to factor in but you can also use the same link for all your other online Internet activities like surfing, external mail, online-banking, etc.


Other miscellaneous costs are :-


* Network cabling expenditure if required
* Purchase of commercial antivirus software for workstations if required
* Configuration of individual workstation which very much depends on number of PCs
* You can opt to purchase a Windows 2000 Pro OS (S$280) if your find the cost of Windows 2000 Server (S$1400) excessive.

You can contact us to tailor the above package to your present office environment. We would be happy to be of service.


Email us to find out what we can offer.