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Email is the unsung hero of most businesses. If you struggle with free or shared options, a virtual private server from ScalaHosting might be right for you.
As with many mission-critical technologies, many businesses spend too much time thinking about email until their email system slows down or a key feature of a free service is lost. While collaboration tools and instant messaging are useful, email is still a common medium for communicating with customers, suppliers, and employees.
For companies that have grown up with free services like Gmail and whose customers are tired of getting emails from mycompany@gmail.com — or worse, an address from your youth like nsync4eva99@yahoo.com — there are three options for email. At one end, you can buy shared email services that effectively promise “best available” service from a set of servers shared between users. At the other end of the spectrum, services like Microsoft 365 offer more sophisticated email tools and other software at a premium price.
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A virtual private server strikes a middle ground, offering the benefits of a professional technology team protecting your infrastructure with hardware dedicated to your business in the form of a virtual server. Companies like ScalaHosting allow you to configure exactly the hardware and disk space you need and easily upgrade or downgrade the service. Additionally, you can add everything from web hosting to automatic backup and monitoring services to your unique service.
Unlike a shared email hosting account, having dedicated computing resources for your email server means that your company’s email services are not affected by other companies and individuals. Think of a VPS as a kind of private highway. While public roads are prone to traffic congestion and accidents, a private highway can accommodate as many vehicles as you allow.
ScalaHosting: email features
In addition to the benefits of a virtual private server, ScalaHosting offers several useful email features. Administrators can create unlimited email accounts and manage unlimited domains with one free domain registration or included with the service. You can set account-specific size limits for each user and quickly add, delete or ban users through the web portal.
Users can access their email accounts through a webmail interface that can be branded with your company’s logo, as well as through the standard POP3 and IMAP protocols. The latter allows users to access email on a smartphone or a variety of email applications, from Windows and Mac native mail apps to Outlook or other web-based interfaces.
ScalaHosting also includes advanced spam protection and 24×365 support. I tested the support in the wee hours of the morning and got in touch with a live person via the chat interface who quickly resolved my issue within seconds.
The company promises to prevent your email domain from being put on the “banned” list. This often happens on shared or other high-volume email servers, and risks sending your emails to spam folders or being rejected outright.
ScalaHosting: Management skills
Most hosted services offer some sort of control panel, which allows the administrator to do everything from adding new email users to adding additional services like web hosting. Most providers use a tool called SiPanel, which was developed in the late 1990s. While SiPanel offers solid functionality, it’s not particularly intuitive and often carries an extra charge.
ScalaHosting offers users a choice between SPanel and their in-house portal SPanel. Spaniel is a more modern and lightweight management tool. I found it easier to use, with a simpler interface, faster loading and transitions, and a more intuitive menu structure than SiPanel’s icon wall.
For advanced administrators, ScalaHosting offers command line access via SSH. However, for email hosting, SPanel or CPanel will be much easier to manage for most users.
ScalaHosting: Pricing
One might expect signing up for a VPS to be a bit complicated, but ScalaHosting has simplified the process while still offering great flexibility. Starting at the one year mark, you can sign up for a plan for a month with discounts. In my test case, the cost was around $50 for a standard configuration on a monthly payment schedule. This VPS can support hundreds of users, at a low cost to the user.
On one screen, you can choose the duration of your subscription, decide which management tool you want to use, and customize your server.
Options are clearly explained and pricing is clear, with totals displayed on screen. Once you’ve chosen your plan duration and customized your server, you’ll have the option to register a new domain or transfer an existing domain. One domain registration is included if you are purchasing one year of hosting.
Finally, you can create an account and provide a payment method, and your server is provided with the options you specify. Online help was available during the registration process, and they responded quickly when I asked a question.
There are some differences in configuring your new VPS to work with an existing domain. ScalaHosting provides email with the servers that need to be added to your domain’s MX record, which if you choose not to transfer or create your domain, you would normally end up with the company that provides your domain registration.
Once complete, you can add users through the control panel, configure users’ email programs or webmail access with information provided by ScalaHosting, and use your new email server.
Note that if you’re transferring a domain due to global Internet outages, there may be a short transition between your old and new email servers, so plan for a day or two where some email may arrive on the new one. Server when some of them reach your old server. Conducting the registration on weekends or after hours can reduce the challenges of this transition.
While email is taken for granted in many businesses, having a dedicated VPS keeps this critical service running at peak performance. ScalaHosting’s SPanel, simple registration, and easy administration are what you should consider for business email hosting if you’re growing a free or shared email service.
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