mail hosting without website

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prhnz

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#304328 24-Apr-2023 16:45

I have a website which I might no longer need. There are some email addresses attached to the domain that I would like to retain, without the website. (Presently the mx record points t Gmail, I think.)

Is it possible to organise that? How do I go about it?

Your help is much appreciated.

zocster

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#3067675 24-Apr-2023 16:46

Depends on your registrar? Some you'd have to pay for advance DNS settings.

danfaulknor

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#3067676 24-Apr-2023 16:47

Fastmail, Zoho Mail, even iCloud all have mail-only hosting options, depending on which ecosystem you're already in (if you're well into Apple, iCloud would make sense)

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freitasm

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#3067683 24-Apr-2023 17:19

You only need to keep paying the registration fee. Email and webservices are usually separated and you tells us you use Gmail (or is it Google Workspace)?

Most registrars don't charge for DNS records. You can always move DNS to Cloudflare.

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Wombat1

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#3067753 24-Apr-2023 19:17

If you have office 365 you can do it with godadddy. Though that is coming to an end soon for non business accounts. But existing accounts will continue to work in future.

tchart

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#3067754 24-Apr-2023 19:23

+1 for Zoho. Been using them for 5 years now.

KiwiSurfer

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#3067761 24-Apr-2023 20:00

+1 for Fastmail. You can retain your current DNS and just point your DNS NS records to Fastmail and everything is all done for you. However you do need to pay an annual fee for the email hosting.

You're with Gmail already so the easiest (and cheapest) option I think would be continuing with paying for your domain name (usually an annual fee) and having your DNS MX records continue to point at Gmail (or whatever arrangements you have in place DNS wise to make Gmail work).

You could transfer your domain name to DNS focused company -- I recommend Metaname.net.

Who do you pay for your domain name? And who for your website? (Might be the same outfit providing you with both.) Knowing that might make it easier for people here to map out a clear migration path for you or see if there is a way to just keep things as it is somehow.

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freitasm

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#3067780 24-Apr-2023 21:56

The OP needs to clarify what he means by "Gmail".

Is the OP redirecting email to a Gmail address or actually using Google Workspace with their domain?

In both cases the OP can just continue doing whatever is being done.

A website is not required - unless the domain comes with a website and email redirection service, all being charged. In this case yes, moving the email to another service (Google Workspace, Zoho, etc) and using a DNS provider like Cloudflare would be ideal. Having this in mind, the domain still needs to be paid - if the registrar doesn't offer an option of buying domain only without other services then investigate moving the domain to another registrar.

If the domain is .com then Cloudflare is ideal. If the domain is .nz then Metaname is my suggestion.

Again, it all depends on how the OP has the service currently configured, which is not yet clear.

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prhnz

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#3067784 24-Apr-2023 22:08

Many thanks for your contributions, @zocster, @danfaulknor, @freitasm, @Wombat1, tchart, @KiwiSurfer. As it was suggested that more detail might help, here goes:

My site is hosted by iserve (until end of June, when iserve discontinue their service - a LifePlan).
Domain name was purchased from CrazyDomains (different name at the time),
When I mentioned Gmail, I did *not* refer to Google Workspace.

So at present, the mx record lives at iserve, and if I do nothing, I wonder what might happen when iserve dies come July.

Aaron2222

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#3068163 26-Apr-2023 14:58

prhnz:

So at present, the mx record lives at iserve, and if I do nothing, I wonder what might happen when iserve dies come July.

I would imagine your email will stop working, given it's going through iSERVE. Do you have a mailbox at iSERVE that Gmail is fetching mail from (via POP), or is iSERVE redirecting email to your Gmail address?