From chsnyder at gmail.com  Mon Nov  1 08:26:31 2010
From: chsnyder at gmail.com (Chris Snyder)
Date: Mon, 1 Nov 2010 08:26:31 -0400
Subject: [nycbug-talk] Running a mail server on Amazon EC2
In-Reply-To: <44014B9E-506A-4B0F-95D2-DB28E4CDB6AC@khandkar.net>
References: <44014B9E-506A-4B0F-95D2-DB28E4CDB6AC@khandkar.net>
Message-ID: <AANLkTimr-wMK7F2dXABRDCZdyLTANcDXbx_1XLOpdGnp@mail.gmail.com>

On Sun, Oct 31, 2010 at 11:58 PM, Siraaj Khandkar <siraaj at khandkar.net> wrote:
> Hello Gentlemen,
>
> Have any of you ever run a mail server on Amazon's EC2? If so, did you experience any problems due to blacklisting of EC2 addresses?
>
> I'm thinking about moving a couple of mail servers from another VPS host to EC2. Wikipedia, as well some other posts I've read, state that spam and malware distribution from EC2 address has been common enough that their entire IP pools are being blacklisted.
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_EC2#Abuse
>
> Any thoughts?
>
> Thanks!
>
> -- Siraaj Khandkar
>

Not a surprise. And how could Amazon combat it, really? Spammers can
set up and tear down ec2 e-blasters at will, automatically.

If they draw their "Elastic IP Addresses" from a different block than
the dynamically assigned ones, you might be okay with one of them. But
even those are trivially easy to assign and deassign, and those blocks
will be poisoned by spammers someday if they aren't already.

One could argue that blacklisting IPs is ridiculous in the age of the
cloud. One could also argue that as IPv4 addresses become scarce, the
value of email-friendly addresses will increase at a more rapid rate
than the value of regular ones, so there is potentially a market force
in favor of blacklisting.

Actually, I'm surprised that Amazon hasn't found the opportunity
hidden in this problem: they could rent you a spam free ip address at
a premium over the cost of one of their elastic ips. Or provide the
Amazon Guaranteed SMTP Relay at $0.003 per message sent. To the best
of my knowledge they do not.

Chris Snyder
http://chxor.chxo.com/


From max at neuropunks.org  Mon Nov  1 10:18:14 2010
From: max at neuropunks.org (Max Gribov)
Date: Mon, 1 Nov 2010 10:18:14 -0400
Subject: [nycbug-talk] Running a mail server on Amazon EC2
In-Reply-To: <44014B9E-506A-4B0F-95D2-DB28E4CDB6AC@khandkar.net>
References: <44014B9E-506A-4B0F-95D2-DB28E4CDB6AC@khandkar.net>
Message-ID: <20101101141814.GA62699@neuropunks.org>

Hi

On Sun, Oct 31, 2010 at 11:58:30PM -0400, Siraaj Khandkar wrote:
> Hello Gentlemen,
> 
> Have any of you ever run a mail server on Amazon's EC2? If so, did you experience any problems due to blacklisting of EC2 addresses?

Its definitely not recommended. IP addresses are blacklisted all over, and non-elastic ip's cannot have reverse dns, which makes it even more problematic for some receivers.
We use authsmtp.com as a gateway service, we're happy with it.

> 
> I'm thinking about moving a couple of mail servers from another VPS host to EC2. Wikipedia, as well some other posts I've read, state that spam and malware distribution from EC2 address has been common enough that their entire IP pools are being blacklisted.
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_EC2#Abuse
> 
> Any thoughts?
> 
> Thanks!	
> 
> -- Siraaj Khandkar
> 
> _______________________________________________
> talk mailing list
> talk at lists.nycbug.org
> http://lists.nycbug.org/mailman/listinfo/talk
> 


From njt at ayvali.org  Mon Nov  1 11:36:21 2010
From: njt at ayvali.org (N.J. Thomas)
Date: Mon, 1 Nov 2010 11:36:21 -0400
Subject: [nycbug-talk] Running a mail server on Amazon EC2
In-Reply-To: <44014B9E-506A-4B0F-95D2-DB28E4CDB6AC@khandkar.net>
References: <44014B9E-506A-4B0F-95D2-DB28E4CDB6AC@khandkar.net>
Message-ID: <20101101153621.GE88357@zaph.org>

* Siraaj Khandkar <siraaj at khandkar.net> [2010-10-31 23:58:30-0400]:
> Have any of you ever run a mail server on Amazon's EC2? If so, did you
> experience any problems due to blacklisting of EC2 addresses?

Some of the people I knew that set up their servers on EC2 ended up
using a 3rd party for outgoing SMTP email service. They really only did
transactional emails, and a low volume at that, but Amazon's network
reputation was so spotty that no one wanted to risk it.

Thomas


From siraaj at khandkar.net  Tue Nov  2 12:52:59 2010
From: siraaj at khandkar.net (Siraaj Khandkar)
Date: Tue, 2 Nov 2010 12:52:59 -0400
Subject: [nycbug-talk] Running a mail server on Amazon EC2
In-Reply-To: <20101101141814.GA62699@neuropunks.org>
References: <44014B9E-506A-4B0F-95D2-DB28E4CDB6AC@khandkar.net>
	<20101101141814.GA62699@neuropunks.org>
Message-ID: <3C27A774-C116-44A7-B636-592A9E7F472A@khandkar.net>

On 1 Nov 2010, at 10:18, Max Gribov wrote:
> On Sun, Oct 31, 2010 at 11:58:30PM -0400, Siraaj Khandkar wrote:
>> Hello Gentlemen,
>> 
>> Have any of you ever run a mail server on Amazon's EC2? If so, did you experience any problems due to blacklisting of EC2 addresses?
> 
> Its definitely not recommended. IP addresses are blacklisted all over, and non-elastic ip's cannot have reverse dns, which makes it even more problematic for some receivers.

Eh, that is the conclusion I am also coming to. Was hoping someone might've had a positive experience... Oh well, Rackspace is next on my list, as far as pricing...


> We use authsmtp.com as a gateway service, we're happy with it.
> 

Not really interested in using a 3rd party for now, but will keep it in mind - it seems authsmtp is liked by many.


Thanks guys!

-- Siraaj Khandkar



From siraaj at khandkar.net  Wed Nov  3 22:46:23 2010
From: siraaj at khandkar.net (Siraaj Khandkar)
Date: Wed, 3 Nov 2010 22:46:23 -0400
Subject: [nycbug-talk] Running a mail server on Amazon EC2
In-Reply-To: <AANLkTimr-wMK7F2dXABRDCZdyLTANcDXbx_1XLOpdGnp@mail.gmail.com>
References: <44014B9E-506A-4B0F-95D2-DB28E4CDB6AC@khandkar.net>
	<AANLkTimr-wMK7F2dXABRDCZdyLTANcDXbx_1XLOpdGnp@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <0679FF32-E382-4E26-8501-BB0F94F95C8D@khandkar.net>

On 1 Nov 2010, at 08:26, Chris Snyder wrote:
> 
> Not a surprise. And how could Amazon combat it, really?

So it appears that Amazon is indeed taking action! As I went to request reverse DNS, I was taken to this form:

https://aws-portal.amazon.com/gp/aws/html-forms-controller/contactus/ec2-email-limit-rdns-request

Where they say that they limit the amount of outgoing mail (not sure what to), and you have to describe your use case scenario to request a reverse record an lift the MX traffic cap. In addition they're saying that they work with ISPs and the likes of Spamhaus to white list the IPs you explicitly request for a mail server.

Sounds good! I shall give it a try and report back in a month or so!
 

-- Siraaj Khandkar


From lists at stringsutils.com  Mon Nov  8 04:44:59 2010
From: lists at stringsutils.com (Francisco Reyes)
Date: Mon, 08 Nov 2010 04:44:59 -0500
Subject: [nycbug-talk] Running a mail server on Amazon EC2
References: <44014B9E-506A-4B0F-95D2-DB28E4CDB6AC@khandkar.net>
	<20101101141814.GA62699@neuropunks.org>
	<3C27A774-C116-44A7-B636-592A9E7F472A@khandkar.net>
Message-ID: <cone.1289209499.84745.5158.1000@shelca>

Siraaj Khandkar writes:

> Eh, that is the conclusion I am also coming to. Was hoping someone might've had a positive experience... 
>Oh well, Rackspace is next on my list, as far as pricing...


Check http://bsdvm.com/
They claim to have unlimited bandwith in the price and they can setup a 
reverse DNS for your IP.

I use them for an MX server and so far no problems. Have not tried using 
them for outbound though.  



From mlists at konjz.org  Mon Nov  8 14:16:04 2010
From: mlists at konjz.org (Bruno Scap)
Date: Mon, 08 Nov 2010 14:16:04 -0500
Subject: [nycbug-talk] LISA
Message-ID: <4CD84C74.2030807@konjz.org>

If anyone is at LISA and wants to get together, e-mail me privately.


From mikel.king at olivent.com  Tue Nov 30 14:33:38 2010
From: mikel.king at olivent.com (mikel king)
Date: Tue, 30 Nov 2010 14:33:38 -0500
Subject: [nycbug-talk] BSD based web hosting
Message-ID: <BB6C67C3-C011-476D-A9BD-4DC55F507DF2@olivent.com>

Greetings all.

I know this pops up on the list every once in a while but perhaps there is some updated information out there. I am researching BSD based hosting providers for a forthcoming article on BSD News. 

I am looking for specific categories;
Basic Hosting (these are the budget guys a la Dreamhost types, that do Web, DNS & email)
Virtual Server Hosting (self explanatory, VM rental)
Physical Server Hosting (self explanatory, Server rental)
Physical Server colocation (You own the box, and rack it at some place like Pilosoft)

It would also be helpful if you've used a particular provider's service. Especially if you can either recommend or not and are interested in being mentioned please note this off list to me.

Thanks in advance

Regards,
Mikel King
Senior Editor, BSD News




From dan at langille.org  Tue Nov 30 20:43:17 2010
From: dan at langille.org (Dan Langille)
Date: Tue, 30 Nov 2010 20:43:17 -0500
Subject: [nycbug-talk] BSD based web hosting
In-Reply-To: <BB6C67C3-C011-476D-A9BD-4DC55F507DF2@olivent.com>
References: <BB6C67C3-C011-476D-A9BD-4DC55F507DF2@olivent.com>
Message-ID: <4CF5A835.6090603@langille.org>

On 11/30/2010 2:33 PM, mikel king wrote:
> Greetings all.
>
> I know this pops up on the list every once in a while but perhaps there is some updated information out there. I am researching BSD based hosting providers for a forthcoming article on BSD News.
>
> I am looking for specific categories;
> Basic Hosting (these are the budget guys a la Dreamhost types, that do Web, DNS&  email)
> Virtual Server Hosting (self explanatory, VM rental)
> Physical Server Hosting (self explanatory, Server rental)
> Physical Server colocation (You own the box, and rack it at some place like Pilosoft)
>
> It would also be helpful if you've used a particular provider's service. Especially if you can either recommend or not and are interested in being mentioned please note this off list to me.

This may not fall into your categories.  Many of my websites (including 
The FreeBSD Diary) have run on a http://www.nyi.net/ provided box since 
early 2003.  They own the box and provided it with FreeBSD installed. 
I've upgraded the OS several times since then.  Still running solid on 
the same server.

-- 
Dan Langille - http://langille.org/


From spork at bway.net  Tue Nov 30 20:57:44 2010
From: spork at bway.net (Charles Sprickman)
Date: Tue, 30 Nov 2010 20:57:44 -0500 (EST)
Subject: [nycbug-talk] BSD based web hosting
In-Reply-To: <BB6C67C3-C011-476D-A9BD-4DC55F507DF2@olivent.com>
References: <BB6C67C3-C011-476D-A9BD-4DC55F507DF2@olivent.com>
Message-ID: <alpine.OSX.2.00.1011302044570.13645@office-dhcp-20.bway.net>

On Tue, 30 Nov 2010, mikel king wrote:

> Greetings all.
>
> I know this pops up on the list every once in a while but perhaps there 
> is some updated information out there. I am researching BSD based 
> hosting providers for a forthcoming article on BSD News.
>
> Physical Server Hosting (self explanatory, Server rental)

I've been using a box at SoftLayer for going on two years now.  While they 
are not "FreeBSD only", it is a supported option on their rented servers. 
They seem to have decent knowledge of the platform and haven't given me 
any BS about "well, you're not running Linux/Windows, so...".  There's 
also a FreeBSD-specific forum on their customer boards.

They've had a few silly network failures that I chalk up to growing pains. 
The Tipping Point "filter my apache logs of garbage for me" is a nice free 
add-on.  Their "IP/KVM" is really just an IPMI card, which mostly works. 
If it doesn't, they deal with it for me.  The vpn access to the internal 
network also has come in handy.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with them.  They could be a little cheaper, but 
maybe post-Planet merger things will get cheaper...

Charles

> It would also be helpful if you've used a particular provider's service. 
> Especially if you can either recommend or not and are interested in 
> being mentioned please note this off list to me.
>
> Thanks in advance
>
> Regards,
> Mikel King
> Senior Editor, BSD News
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> talk mailing list
> talk at lists.nycbug.org
> http://lists.nycbug.org/mailman/listinfo/talk
>


From george at galis.org  Tue Nov 30 20:57:06 2010
From: george at galis.org (George Georgalis)
Date: Tue, 30 Nov 2010 17:57:06 -0800
Subject: [nycbug-talk] BSD based web hosting
In-Reply-To: <4CF5A835.6090603@langille.org>
References: <BB6C67C3-C011-476D-A9BD-4DC55F507DF2@olivent.com>
	<4CF5A835.6090603@langille.org>
Message-ID: <20101201015643.GB1277@bonnie.galis.org>

>On 11/30/2010 2:33 PM, mikel king wrote:
>>Greetings all.
>>
>>I know this pops up on the list every once in a while but perhaps there is some updated information out there. I am researching BSD based hosting providers for a forthcoming article on BSD News.
>>
>>I am looking for specific categories;
>>Basic Hosting (these are the budget guys a la Dreamhost types, that do Web, DNS&  email)
>>Virtual Server Hosting (self explanatory, VM rental)
>>Physical Server Hosting (self explanatory, Server rental)
>>Physical Server colocation (You own the box, and rack it at some place like Pilosoft)
>>
>>It would also be helpful if you've used a particular provider's service. Especially if you can either recommend or not and are interested in being mentioned please note this off list to me.

I've been using http://www.m5hosting.com/
for about a year or so. Excellent all around.

They advertise FreeBSD and OpenBSD for leased
systems but they will work with you to get your
OS of choice installed if you want another.

-George