= Asking The Impossible: Cheap But Easy Mail Server VPS Guide ($30 to $60 a year) =

Hey there,
I have tried the following two guides and failed miserably which I will describe in a second as to why:
Tried this one since I heard OpenBSD is good for security, and I was up for the challenge. Looked OK at the first, butthis post is way too intense near the end, and was so jenky. Plus SMTP isn't described on how to truly configure it. It basically felt like, "Here's me rambling. Oh yeah, here's my Gmail, should just work, Ok? Bye", not good at all in my opinion:
httpspoolp.org/posts/2019-09-14/setting-up-a-mail-server-with-opensmtpd-dovecot-and-rspamd/
Failed at this one since I deployed a 512MB based Vultr VPS running Debian 10, didn't know you need at least 2GB for this setup, so really, this is me being cheap

**httpswww.linuxbabe.com/mail-server/debian-9-stretch-modoboa**
What I currently have:
- I have a Fastmail account but I am ITCHING to deploy a mail server for myself. I amof easy mode. Plus I already pay $60 for this. I don't want to pay $120 to self-host myself to probablythings up even more. Call it being cheap, I don't mind, but its true if you think about it

- You may think I'mbut yeah I really want the experience badly

What I'm looking for:
- I am asking the impossible to see if I can get the 512MB or 1GB Vultr VM tier ($30 or $60 a year total) to setup an entire mail server

- I don't really care for a mail web interface GUI since I just want to be able to use 'mu-4e' for Emacs later on, and maybe Thunderbird on my "just works" Desktop computer

- I am looking for a hand-hold-y type guide that ACTUALLY works. So many of theseposts have tons of comments saying its outdated, doesn't even work etc

Does anyone have a guide for anything like this?
Before anyone says, "Oh yeah, don't do it (blah blah blah, not worth your time Don't care, I still want to at least have a working email server for at least a year or two and decide to keep upping the anti at that point

Looking for some positive feedback and ideas, thanks :)

I've setup a mail server (postfix+dovecot+rspamd) on a 1GB RAM VPS from DigitalOcean

I followed pretty much this guide (the guide is for FreeBSD, but I think it can apply to Linux too)

It's actually diable, but you've got to be ready to tinker and understand how DKIM, DMARC and SPF work (I enjoyed doing it, tho)
Personally I followed the Ars Technica tutorial (4 parts). I use rspamd instead of spamassassin though, and I think the

mail-stack-delivery package has disappeared since the tutorial was written for some crazy reason (it makes the initial setup a lot simpler)

I've been running iRedMail on a $5 Digital Ocean VPS for several years now. iRedMail upgrades are quite manual but I've not had issues so far

My mail addresses are pretty low throughput, I reserve this particular domain for GitHub and other "important" mail related to accounts so it doesn't receive a lot but it should handle a reasonable mail load for a handful of users just fine

I've always felt like iRedMail upgrades are a bit too manual for me so I've been on the lookout for something cleaner and easier to manage, but it's been a workhorse so I've been in no rush to replace it now I've learned what's up

Thanks for this, I have 4 questions for you:
Q1. So just iRedMail, and no ClamAV, SpamAssassin etc?
Q2. Also, what is the total usage (CPU, memory, etc) when running iRedMail on the $60 a year package on Digital Ocean?
Q3. What are the specs for your VPS as well?
Q4. What guide did you utilize to learn how to deploy it?
One important thing to look at is how the IP you will get with your VPS is viewed. At least if you want to send mails

If you know somebody hosting there, ask the machine IP and use a tool like mxtoolbox with it to see if you have a green light

If you already have a VPS there yourself check it, if not ask the support how they goes with it

Some blacklist are just impossible to move out from, or cost hundred of money per year to just whitelist you

It's not technical, but certainly a point of high importance that can throw away all your work because you ended up in a bad IP block
Yeah but are they actually reliable though?
I ask because some of these look a bit shady, don't know why but I'm just new to looking for deals for VPS's

Any specific vendors that you would recommend?
Cheap is one thing but I don't need my financial info stolen from the vendor itself

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