Setting up my own e-mail address

[Avicennasis]

How would I go about setting up my own email addresses? Is this even possible or practical on a small scale?

[kaled]

1) Choose a domain name.
2) Choose a host.
3) Follow the host's instructions on how to set up your mail client such as Outlook (Express) or Thunderbird, etc. (You may have to set up a default email address or this may be done for you.)
4) You may also be able to use webmail.yourdomain.com to access mail using a web browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera etc.) but that will depend on your host.

As web tasks go, this is just about as easy as it gets. However, it's not going to be free if you want a decent service. The hardest part may be choosing your domain name (since most of the good ones are already taken) followed by choosing your host.

Kaled.

[Avicennasis]

Yeah, I know this - That's the easy way. :)

I guess I forgot to mention - I host my website myself. I already have it set up, and I broadcast it through Port 80 Outbound on my Home Server. (My ISP is one of the few that doesn't block that port access.)

Obviously, I'm using software and such that I have found around the internet to host a website off of my IP address. Not static, I know, but with a cable modem and steady service, I can retain my IP for very long times, once going into 8+ months.

So, to rephrase my question - For someone hosting their own site and running their own software, how would I set up emails? I don't even think this is possible in my situation, but I'm not 100% sure, so I figured I'd ask anyway.

[ceestand]

You'll have to set up mail server software. What OS are you runing?

[Avicennasis]

Currently I'm in the Windows XP era.

[jtara]

You really, really, really don't want to do this. You just don't know it yet. ;)

But if you insist, you need to install an SMTP server on your computer and add an MX record to your DNS pointing to the server.

[raedthakur]

you probably are spending more on electricity charges then what a webhosting company would charge....