Email hosting

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simon14

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Topic # 100435 11-Apr-2012 19:46

Hi guys,

A friend of mine has a domain name and are currently paying for web hosting which they no longer require but they still want to keep their domain name email address.

What is the best way to go about doing this without having the pay web hosting fees?

If we transfer their domain to a domain name provider, do we then have to pay extra for email hosting? Or can we just change the MX records to a free email provider?

nzkc

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Reply # 608002 11-Apr-2012 19:54

You could use GMail for your email hosting of your own domains. Its free for up to 10 accounts/users. Its what I use for my domains.

You should be able to keep your domain with your existing provider, but if you would prefer to move to another company you can do that too. You then update the MX records as per wherever you have your email hosted.

simon14

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Reply # 608004 11-Apr-2012 19:56

So i could transfer my domain to 1st domains for example, then point mx records to gmail and will be able to send and recieve email through gmail?

sidefx

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Reply # 608009 11-Apr-2012 20:10

Certainly looks that way:

https://www.google.com/a/cpanel/standard/new3

http://support.google.com/a/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=33352

very nice, might have to try this... I didn't realise it was free up to 10 users!

nzkc

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Reply # 608011 11-Apr-2012 20:15

simon14: So i could transfer my domain to 1st domains for example, then point mx records to gmail and will be able to send and recieve email through gmail?

Basically: Yes

You should configure the GMail account first. Follow their instructions (they get you to add a DNS entry - TXT record or other to prove ownership of the domain) then repoint your MX records. That way you wont lose any emails as it takes a while for the DNS records to replicate (usually < 24hrs).

You could also use Windows Live Domains - basically the same kind of thing. Depends on your requirements and preferences.

exportgoldman

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Reply # 608020 11-Apr-2012 20:51

I've been trying to find a answer to this for a while, and you people may know.

I have a client already using gmail.com as their business e-mail, this is a print company with probably 50-100 users. (but I'm sure they don't use Google Apps, just the free service.)

They want to move only some users onto the Google Apps gmail so they can use the Outlook connector.

Can they move only some users to Google Apps and leave the rest with gmail, or is it a all or nothing thing?

The closest I came to a answer was the Google Apps page said I could turn off Google Apps services for some users, e.g. e-mail. Still wait e-mail but the free one for some and Google Apps for others.

Tyler - Parnell Geek - iPhone 3G - Lenovo X301 - Kaseya - Great Western Steak House, these are some of my favourite things.

nzkc

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Reply # 608060 11-Apr-2012 22:23

Are you saying they have a bunch of accounts with @gmail.com addresses?

E.g: Person.A@gmail.com
Person.B@gmail.com
etc

You want to move Person.A to Person.A@CustomDomain.co.nz and leave Person.B with Person.B@gmail.com

If that's what you are asking: Yes.

In fact, Person.A@gmail.com remains active too. I'd set up a forward on this account myself.

Why wouldn't you want to move everyone to the @customdomain.co.nz address? Is it a cost thing? If its just email you're after, perhaps consider the Windows Live Domains which give you many more free email addresses - but lacks in other areas in my opinion. As I said earlier: Depends on your requirements.

itxtme

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Reply # 608130 12-Apr-2012 09:39

exportgoldman:
I've been trying to find a answer to this for a while, and you people may know.

I have a client already using gmail.com as their business e-mail, this is a print company with probably 50-100 users. (but I'm sure they don't use Google Apps, just the free service.)

They want to move only some users onto the Google Apps gmail so they can use the Outlook connector.

Can they move only some users to Google Apps and leave the rest with gmail, or is it a all or nothing thing?

The closest I came to a answer was the Google Apps page said I could turn off Google Apps services for some users, e.g. e-mail. Still wait e-mail but the free one for some and Google Apps for others.

I dont know what the rules were "back in the day" but for the last couple of years the number of free user in google apps has been around ?15, and that has since been reduced to about 10. The only way I could envisage the company using it free is via address fowarding. So officially their email is something@gmail.com. I know when you send emails with this service in the from line it says "FROM email@printcompany.com on behalf of printcompany@gmail.com"

What you need to work out is where their current MX records point, and then do the setup for google apps. If its less than 10 (you would have to check) you can use google apps free version unless they want the higher storage amounts etc.

CYaBro

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Reply # 608155 12-Apr-2012 11:22

I think originally the free version of Google Apps had a 50 user limit but it is now 10.

I would move the domain hosting to 247hosting.co.nz - there is no cost to move a domain to another host as long as it is not going to expire in the next month. Then you would need to pay the renewal which is only $18 for a year.

Once that's done go to http://www.google.com/apps/intl/en/group/index.html and setup a free account there with your existing domain name.
Once you've started going through the setup process Google will want to verify that you are the owner of the domain and they will give you a few options to do for that. I usually choose the option to add a DNS TXT record as it's the easiest.
You will then need to log in to your 247hosting.co.nz account and create that DNS TXT record for the domain.
Once that's done it can take a few hours for the DNS TXT record to propogate over the internet and then you will be able to verify the domain with Google.
Carry on through the setup with Google to create the required email addresses and then Google will give you the required MX records. Again you will need to go to your 247hosting.co.nz account and create those MX records. Again you may need to wait a few hours for these to propogate over the internet and once that's done you will be able to start sending and receiving emails, with your own domain name email addresses by logging in to www.gmail.com with your new email address and password.

You only get the normal gmail storage limit with the free version of Google apps but that's over 7.5GB now so it is a lot!

You can also then setup Outlook, or whatever email software you want to use, and any smartphones to access the email accounts.

exportgoldman

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Reply # 608392 12-Apr-2012 18:23

nzkc: Are you saying they have a bunch of accounts with @gmail.com addresses?

E.g: Person.A@gmail.com
Person.B@gmail.com
etc

You want to move Person.A to Person.A@CustomDomain.co.nz and leave Person.B with Person.B@gmail.com

No. They all have email addresses on gmail as @company.co.nz i.e. their actual real domain, I thought this was free. Perhaps I am wrong?

This company have many branches, all independently run, one branch wants to 'step up' to Google Apps with the Outlook plugin, but of course the other branches with the same domain name email addresses want to stay on the 'free' version, which I'm now thinking may not be so free??

Tyler - Parnell Geek - iPhone 3G - Lenovo X301 - Kaseya - Great Western Steak House, these are some of my favourite things.

mattwnz

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Reply # 608401 12-Apr-2012 18:32

One thing with gmail is that you don't get any support. So you are pretty much on your own if you have trouble with the email account. eg you don't get an email that was sent to you, connection problems and trouble shooting etc. Not so good if you are a business and you need that support. The other thing is their privacy policies, and the way they scan emails that you send and receive, as you really don't know what information they are collecting. Currently this is mainly used for advertsing, and serving you up relevent adverts in gmail webmail. However if you have confidential emails that you send or receive, your customers may not want their emails getting scanned by a 3rd party system. This is just something to be aware of. I use gmail for personal use, and find it fine, so would definitely recommend it for personal use.
The thing to remember with this sort of 'free' service, is that you are the 'product', and not the customer. The customer is the advertiser.

exportgoldman

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Reply # 608410 12-Apr-2012 18:41

mattwnz: One thing with gmail is that you don't get any support. So you are pretty much on your own if you have trouble with the email account. eg you don't get an email that was sent to you, connection problems and trouble shooting etc. Not so good if you are a business and you need that support. The other thing is their privacy policies, and the way they scan emails that you send and receive, as you really don't know what information they are collecting. Currently this is mainly used for advertsing, and serving you up relevent adverts in gmail webmail. However if you have confidential emails that you send or receive, your customers may not want their emails getting scanned by a 3rd party system. This is just something to be aware of. I use gmail for personal use, and find it fine, so would definitely recommend it for personal use.
The thing to remember with this sort of 'free' service, is that you are the 'product', and not the customer. The customer is the advertiser.

A good reminder, and I totally get that, but this is where the market is heading. Massive clouds of nearly free e-mail hosting.

Our company consults on local/hosted/cloud e-mail with many products on different platforms, and it's not cheap to get a good reliable mail system running well.

Tyler - Parnell Geek - iPhone 3G - Lenovo X301 - Kaseya - Great Western Steak House, these are some of my favourite things.

nzkc

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Reply # 608430 12-Apr-2012 19:15

exportgoldman:
No. They all have email addresses on gmail as @company.co.nz i.e. their actual real domain, I thought this was free. Perhaps I am wrong?

Depends on when they registered and the number of accounts they are using.

exportgoldman:
This company have many branches, all independently run, one branch wants to 'step up' to Google Apps with the Outlook plugin, but of course the other branches with the same domain name email addresses want to stay on the 'free' version, which I'm now thinking may not be so free??

As mentioned you used to get 50 accounts for free, but sometime last year it was dropped to 10. You can pay for more (see: http://www.google.com/apps/intl/en/business/)

As for use with Outlook; you can use the free version of GMail for this, but you only get IMAP support and performance isn't stunning - its ok (I used it). If you have their paid service (Google Apps for Business) then you get a native Outlook connector but I've never used this.

Stu

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Reply # 608474 12-Apr-2012 20:59

This from Google:

Can I have a subset of employees on Google Apps for Business and others on Google Apps?
Google Apps does not support Google Apps and Google Apps for Business user accounts as part of the same organization's Google Apps account

So all or nothing on the paid option.