E-Mail Server & DNS Questions

[guito13]

Ok, Thanks for stopping by. I have seen several threads here asking about "Whats a good, free email server" however I really havent seen any overwhelming winners for a windows platform. I am starting up a very small non-profit site and want to get me some email but have never set up an email server before.

I have obviously verified with my ISP that the common ports are NOT blocked (25 and 110 specifically), have a static IP, have my DNS records handled by a 3rd party provider (Which I can modify), and that such activities were legal under the TOS of my ISP.

So, here I go:

1) What is the best, free, smtp & pop n00b friendly email server for the windows platform based on a) Install ease b) Configuration Ease c) Performance (XP Pro for me but any flavor for others who may have similar questions)?

2) What settings NEED to exist in your domains DNS record for everything to function correctly?
2a) Any links to explinations of reverse DNS lookup or any other issues that need to be attended to with regard to validating your domain as a NON Spam account would be greatly appreciated

3) Any good writeups on the different email protocols may be handy for me (even though I have done some homework) and others.

Thanks again! I appreciate your input!

 

[guito13]

Ok, I tried MailEnable and I am able to send mail from my PC but i cannot receive mail. I have a feeling that this is caused because I use a home broadband connection and my ISP owns my static IP and therefore controls the PTR record for the IP. If I cannot set the PTR record to point to my domain name veruses the IP's domain name the reverse lookup will NOT resolve to my domain.

Anyone have a similar experience with this and a possible solution?