I have registered a domain and want to share this between several users, with different forwarding addresses for each specific user and a "default" address or POP3 mailbox for everything else.

For example, say the domain name is abc.com

ian@abc.com -> forward to ianjones@hotmail.com
john@abc.com -> forward to johnsmith@yahoo.com
sally@abc.com -> forward to sallysmith@bigfoot.com
anything else either forward or retain in a POP3 mailbox.

This is the only service I require, I don't need webspace or URL redirection etc etc for the domain.

Obviously I would probably need to transfer the domain to the hosting company, I am looking for a reasonably low "parking" charge (above the NSI registration charges) and "mail mapping" charge.

I live in the UK but I don't see any reason why the hosting company needs to be in my own country, unless someone can say otherwise.

Any suggestions would be welcome. Thanks in advance.

http://www.mydomain.com might work out for you:

"We forward ALL mail associated with your-domain-name to your email account.

PLUS:

We allow you to forward up to 10 additional email addresses to other email accounts..."

- depending on if you just want 10 or less *and* you understand that it is a free service and thus might be a bit less reliable than even a cheap paid service by a ohst. Sometimes free isn't worth it depending on how important email is to you.

That is more or less what I need, plus the fact they can redirect URL using stealth if I ever choose to start a webpage in the future (of course I'll need webspace from someone else).

How come it is free ? Has anyone used mydomain.com before ? Are there any reviews of their service ?

Many thanks for the suggestion.

It's free because the MyDomain.com people are wonderfully generous. And the general consensus is that it's wonderful. I don't think I've seen a bad review yet. The people over at sitepointforums.com like it, too. I use it to redirect one of my domains and love it.

I used it for about two years on one domain. There were a couple times during the year that it was noticeably down, but over all it was a pretty good service.

If someone sends a 5 MB email to abc@mycompany.com, and I have email forwarding set so that it goes to xyz@anothercompany.com, does the message get fully delivered to abc@mycompany.com first, and then get retransmitted to xyz@anothercompany.com? (i.e. using up 5 MB of transfers up AND down?)

If not, how does it work?

(the reason I ask is that lots of folks have asked for emial forwarding on some of the domains I own, but I was worried about bandwidth costs and didn't want to do it for free if the bandwidth is going to be high) Does anyone have any stats on typical bandwidth used by 1000 users over the course of a year?

Sincerely,

George Kirikos
http://www.kirikos.com/

If you use eNom.com as your registrar, the annual fee ($30) includes up to 50 email forwards. Also DNS service if you need which includes up to a combination of 15 A records, C records, Frame or egular redirects.

You might wanna try zoneedit.com
They had some server problems and downtimes in October 2000. But otherwise their service is real good.

It's free for upto 5 domains. They have gotten much better.

From what I know, this problem seemed to affect only the forwards and not the DNS.

Now they have added the facility to add NS, PTR and some other records too to the DNS which was not available earlier.

They allow you to add infinite number of email and web forwards.

Give them a try, and you might be impressed to sign-up for the paid service. I have two domains with them, for free.

Wing.

You could also try centralinfo.net (if my braincell is working :) )

Thanks for the replies. All the information has given me good pointers to a whole batch of hosting companies that would suit my needs and finances.

I have been looking at AF Hosting (www.afhosting.com), anyone got any comments on them ?

ian 54-
My advice is to search for info about them first, and please start a new thread about it. We used to charge a nickel per thread, but we're running a special this month and all threads are free :)

No one will know you are asking about them deep down at the bottom of that post and if they find it, this thread will be about two unrelated things (harder to follow and discuss).

GeorgeK-
Unless I'm terribly mistaken about how it all works, yes, you'd be footing the bill for the bandwidth for forwarded email.


[Edited by Chicken on 02-15-2001 at 07:41 PM]

With zoneedit.com, it's totally free for upto 5 domains and so you won't be billed any bandwidth charges I think. If at all you use up too much bandwidth, they might inform you to take necessary steps. And they also provide good email support for even free users.

Originally posted by Chicken
ian 54-
We used to charge a nickel per thread, but we're running a special this month and all threads are free :)



That is sure to make you the "Businessman of the Year 2001".

All the more reason why all the other chickens love you. Well, I love you too, for a different reason - see my sig. Hey, sorry if I've ruffled your feathers. This is *really* a compliment. :)

Nice to have you as a Mod here, Chicken. :)

Wing.


[Edited by TheWingThing on 02-15-2001 at 01:44 PM]

Thanks Chicken for the confirmation -- I was pretty sure the bandwidth wasn't "free" on this. I wonder how some companies are able to offer unlimited email forwarding, at no cost? Certainly if one setup a lot of them (say 1000), the bandwidth costs would be non-trivial.

GeorgeK-
I honestly don't know how they do that either (aside from hoping that people don't attach mp3'd, etc., heh.

Wing-
Ohhhhh my my my, now I'm gonna hafta update the site? Hmmm, if I recall correctly, the last update I did was throw up a 'Happy New Year' message on the front page, and that wasn't for New Year 2001... *eeeak*