Hosting and Email

Is it possible to have your website hosted with one hosting company while the email is with another - both would refer to the same domain.
If so, how would I go about this?

Hl,

Yes, use the DNS setup to point MX records to the IP Address of the mail host (leaving the A records at the web host).

Regards,

DK

Hi Hlforr,

Do you know how to access and update your DNS or is your DNS managed by your Host where you call/email them?

When DK directs you to set the MX record you need to log into your DNS admin and create a record of type MX and in the corresponding field you put the Public IP Address of the server where your email is hosted.

A MX record looks like this, although it is likely more friendly managed through your online DNS admin interface:



[B]mydomain.com. 14400 IN A 216.26.22.184
server2.mydomain.com. 14400 IN A 216.26.22.185
mydomain.com. 14400 IN MX 0 64.38.16.192
[/B][B]mydomain.com. 14400 IN MX 30 mail.mybackupmail.com.[/B]

A setup like this meand that the first two lines map mydomain.com and server2.mydomain.com to particular IP (probably on different servers). The third line is the primary Mail (MX) record it says when emails are sent to someone@mydomain.com then direct them to a mail server located at the public IP 64.38.16.192. The last line says that if the primary mail server is busy then send the messages to your mail.mybackupmail.com. Out of the two MX records above 0 is the most primary precedence and 30 determines it is a lower precedence; this could be set to 5, 10 or any number other than 0.

Some DNS providers or Hosts have ‘Round Robin’ backup mail servers that you can define as your backup mail servers. They are generally configured to keep any mail for 3 days or so and try to forward the messages to your primary email server. This is very handy when your mail email server goes down for maintenance or maybe internet outages or high traffic volumes affect people connecting to your primary email server.

Hope this helps a little.

Steve
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By the way you can use Gmail with your domain name for free :slight_smile:

Just forward your emails directly to gmail address then Gmail > Settings > Accounts and Import > Send mail as
then add your domain email and verify it and make the email address default now you can send & receive from gmail with your domain email :slight_smile:

I love Gmail!

Wow, I didn’t know this! Thanks. I have been using Squirrel Mail with cPanel for ages and the interface is stale. It is refreshing knowing I can use GMail cause it is so familiar!

Yeah most of the people don’t know that, I think I’m using it since 2009 and using 20 domain emails on one gmail account :slight_smile:

Hi, thanks for all your responses. Yes, I usually use Gmail, but I am setting up a new website for a client who is adamant that he wants his emails services to continue to be managed by a third party and use his existing mail services.
This has been complicated by the fact that we are moving his web hosting but not his domain. Managed to get it working okay now thanks to all your answers which have been really useful and informative. Didn’t know where to start before I posted. Thanks guys

You’re welcome.

There are also other methods like MX record pointing but who cares if you have Gmail doing it very easy and free.

You can also use your domain name email address on Gmail by paying $50 a year for each email address then it will be like premium Gmail account in which you don’t use gmail.com but your domain, its used by corporations but for individuals its better to setup a new gmail and transfer your emails to the gmail address plus you can also use your domain email address as default so its like your own mailbox :slight_smile:

This is known as google apps email. You don’t have to pay anything for this - the basic level of use is free (up to 10 users). You can pay extra for business or enterprise levels which provide a SLA, more storage, remove ads, customer support etc