Send email through local SMTP vs google app engine

Question

My web site is supposed to send email to customers and its hosted on a VPS. Should I use local SMTP or is it better to use a third party SMTP provider like Google App Engine?

What are the disadvantages and advantages for each method (Spam, reliability and so on...)

AppEngine does not have SMTP services. You might mean Google Apps? — Chris Farmiloe, May 18 '11 at 18:08
i followed this link:http://code.google.com/intl/iw-IL/appengine/docs/python/mail/sendingmail.html — , May 18 '11 at 18:09
So were you thinking of sending a request from your VPS -> AppEngine -> send mail? — Chris Farmiloe, May 18 '11 at 18:13
Would you really want to manage your own SMTP server? Getting email into inboxes is not a science, there's a lot of gobbledegook that third-party SMTP providers handle so you don't have to. — JonLim, May 20 '11 at 15:45
what are the alternatives? i'M lookign for the disadvantages and advantages for each method — user437631, May 22 '11 at 07:46

score 4 · Answer 1 · answered May 18 '11 at 18:18

4

Unless the IP your VPS is sitting on has been blacklisted from a previous user, or your ISP is just plain evil, you should be fine sending out emails from a local SMTP server.

For maximum deliverability you will want to look at:

Ensuring you have setup your SMTP server NOT to rely mail, and is safely behind a firewall. (this is a surefire way to get blacklisted within days)
Ensure you have reverse-DNS setup for your VPS and that the host name your SMTP server is using matches your domain
Adding SPF records for your domain.
Checkout DKIM if possible.

Your AppEngine approach seems convoluted, if you wanted to use a third party system something like SendGrid would be a better fit.

answered May 18 '11 at 18:18

Chris Farmiloe

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great answer! do i have any way to know that i'm blacklisted? if i'm on vps aren't i'm automaticly behind FW?why reverse DNS setup and how do i do that? – May 18 '11 at 18:33
Your VPS company (or whoever you use for DNS) will probably have some way of setting up reverse-DNS for your mail-server. It's needed as some servers will check that you are not just making up a domain/mailserver to send mail from. – Chris Farmiloe May 18 '11 at 18:41
Firewall will depend on how you setup your VPS. Who do you use? – Chris Farmiloe May 18 '11 at 18:41
i'm looking right now for a VPS provider in the US.i'm thinking of accuwebhosting. – May 18 '11 at 20:29
you can see your blacklist status at http://www.mxtoolbox.com – gravyface May 19 '11 at 18:32

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered May 19 '11 at 18:25

0

If you have less then 500 mails/day I would use Google apps (free!), this way you know 100% that all is working fine. Plus, no need to setup your own mail server.

For paid google apps, the limit is 2000 mails/day.

answered May 19 '11 at 18:25

Pete White

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Send email through local SMTP vs google app engine

2 Answers2