First time poster...

I have had a reseller account with the same host for nearly 5 years. I use for my design customers and do not know much about the Web Hosting business.

My issue:

Over the last 2 years I have had increasing problems with my shared IP for the mail server being black listed. It crops up occasionally and screws up my customers email sending for a couple days. On the whole it is not too big a problem because most of my customers are small businesses and their volume is very low.

My largest customer has about 45 email accounts and sends 100's of messages a day and it is causing them some real problems. 3 months ago, it happened and about a third of their messages were bounced. When it was all fixed by my host, I asked if there was a way that I could get my own IP for email so I would not pay for other reseller's spamming. They told me that it wasn't how it worked. The only way was to get a dedicated server and run it myself. Well I can't do that so I let it go. Now it happened again this week and I will lose this client if I can;t solve this problem.

I do not understand servers well enough to know if Site5 is telling me the truth. Is there another way for me to go about this?

I spend about $700/yr between this Linux Reseller plan and a Windows VPS. Any advice would be appreciated. Email is the only problem -- the uptime on the sites has never been a problem after all these years.

Sorry so long.

Phil S.

It sounds like a miscommunication. Ask them for a dedicated IP. Most providers should be able to issue some to you.

If they provide and assign a dedicated IP address then it should solve the problem. This way only your account and any domains under it will be using that dedicated IP, nobody else. It won't be shared with the hundreds of other people who may be on the same server as you.

A dedicated IP generally costs anywhere between $1 - $2 each per month so it's really not a big deal. Most hosts should be able to provide it at that price range so I guess all you need to do is ask them. Try specifically asking them for a dedicated IP.

Contact your current host to provide you with the Dedicated Ip. I hope this would solve your problem..Might be for that you will have to pay a few bugs more but would make you tensionfree....

Don't mind paying. They said I could only have a dedicated IP for SSL. I will try again, asking a different way.

You should get a dedicated IP with no issues. The rules about IP's are technically that there is a host responding to it. Your website should count.

I'd lie and say it's for a SSL cert that I already bought, and just let them assign it to you.

Well, it seems my 5 year love affair with Site5 is over. I got a very polite but firm, "we will miss you and your business if you leave". Apparently negotiation is a lost art.

Can anyone tell me of a host that doesn't have a no sedicated IP policy?

Wow, that's harsh. They would rather loose a paying customer (that I assume pays on time) over something as little as getting you another dedicated IP....wow.

Why wouldn't they assign a dedicated IP for you? Instead they decided to lose a 5 year client? Wow.

If you're really looking for a new host, it shouldn't be too hard to find a reseller account with the option of a dedicated IP. Just do some shopping around for a reliable provider.

Hi systemi,

A dedicated IP address in this instance would not actually help because, at this time, exim is not configured to send email using the account's IP address but rather the main server IP.

We are currently working on a project that will allow us to better monitor outbound mail to help in the prevention (as best as possible) of blacklisting and whatnot.

Could you please PM me your ticket ID? I would like to review it and see if there's anything we can do for you.

Thanks,
Tom
Site5 COO

A dedicated IP address in this instance would not actually help because, at this time, exim is not configured to send email using the account's IP address but rather the main server IP.

We are currently working on a project that will allow us to better monitor outbound mail to help in the prevention (as best as possible) of blacklisting and whatnot.

Could you please PM me your ticket ID? I would like to review it and see if there's anything we can do for you.

Thanks,
Tom
Site5 COO

Tom,

That is at least an explanation. I can't PM you because I don't have enough posts :) When i do, I will. Thanks for taking the time.

You should note that while this problem has occurred sporadically over the years on my old server...I was migrated to a new server this week and we were blacklisted same day. I'll get you the ticket when I can.

Phil

Hi systemi,

A dedicated IP address in this instance would not actually help because, at this time, exim is not configured to send email using the account's IP address but rather the main server IP.

We are currently working on a project that will allow us to better monitor outbound mail to help in the prevention (as best as possible) of blacklisting and whatnot.

Could you please PM me your ticket ID? I would like to review it and see if there's anything we can do for you.

Thanks,
Tom
Site5 COO

Tom is correct. Exim only sends/receives on the servers main I.P. Until this can be corrected by a configurable option in Exim this will remain a problem.

That's quite unfortunate then. At least Site5 came here to reply to your thread and provided a valid explanation, not much more you can ask of them at this point. :)

I looked into this briefly a while back due to similar concerns with my host, and while I dont remember the details, I do believe there are services out there specifically for email hosting. Obviously an additional expense (maybe around $10/month ?), but at least worth looking into.

- Doug

Don't mind paying. They said I could only have a dedicated IP for SSL. I will try again, asking a different way.

So play it a smart way, request your dedicated ip, if current host dont meet your needs there are many companies out there that will provide dedicated ips.


Most reseller packages include at least 1 dedicated ip.

Tom,

That is at least an explanation. I can't PM you because I don't have enough posts :) When i do, I will. Thanks for taking the time.

You should note that while this problem has occurred sporadically over the years on my old server...I was migrated to a new server this week and we were blacklisted same day. I'll get you the ticket when I can.

PhilFeel free to email me directly rather than PM: tom [[*AT*]] site5 DOT com

My largest customer has about 45 email accounts and sends 100's of messages a day and it is causing them some real problems. I've read of hosts encouraging customers to use Google Apps for their email needs. Not exactly an elegant solution, but there you have it.

Another option would be a VPS, where there would be no third party doing the bad things, and you/your customers suffering the consequences.

A third option would be another host, either more proactive (or luckier to have nicer customers who don't send spam, keep their scripts updated etc.), or maybe one with a different email system. I recall reading about email gateways with a high number of IPs. As soon as an IP gets blacklisted, it is removed. When the issue is cleared, it is restored.

Anyone know the status of cPanel's developments to allow outgoing mail to use a client's dedicated IP? Last I heard it was in the Edge version and causing problems, but that was a while ago.

systemi - another option for your client might be to change their email over to Google Apps.

Tom is correct. Exim only sends/receives on the servers main I.P. Until this can be corrected by a configurable option in Exim this will remain a problem.Well, that's not exactly correct. cPanel now allows server admins to configure exim to use account IP for outbound email.

However, with 400+ servers to maintain, this simply has not been something we have decided to enable at this time. We're dealing with shared and reseller hosting which by definition involves sharing server resources -- including outbound email IP. We *could* enable the option in cPanel's config, but it would add a level of shear management that I'm not sure we want to take on at this time.

There's definitely some advantages to enabling it -- no denying that. Right now though, we're concentrating on improving other aspects of our services and support.

As I alluded to earlier, we're working on a massive mail project that help in combatting the blacklisting problem all hosts face at some point or another. :)

Anyone know the status of cPanel's developments to allow outgoing mail to use a client's dedicated IP? Last I heard it was in the Edge version and causing problems, but that was a while ago.See my post above. :) It's now in STABLE -- I believe went stable with 11.24. I've got cPanel configured like that on my dedicated server.

systemi - another option for your client might be to change their email over to Google Apps.

I thought Google Apps was an expensive Enterprise Solution. Are there small scale affordable options as well?

I thought Google Apps was an expensive Enterprise Solution. Are there small scale affordable options as well?Ya its free actually :)

Tom will let me know the ticket ID on this one as well as our staff should never have said that to you. First, we sell dedicated IPs if you need one for whatever reason although in your situation that probably wouldn't help. Tom and I will take a look at the ticket and see what we can do. I think I know what the server is and our guys should have gotten the blocks removed Friday but we can check on that.

We are as Tom said working on a project to centralize mail in a way that makes that problem a thing of the past but that will be a few months before it is implemented.

I'll ping you on the ticket shortly,
thanks, Ben

Well, it seems my 5 year love affair with Site5 is over. I got a very polite but firm, "we will miss you and your business if you leave". Apparently negotiation is a lost art.Whoever told you that will be talked to on Monday, that is not how we train our staff nor the right answer. Just wanted to make that clear.

Thanks, Ben
Site5 CEO