I have intentions of making one of my old computers sitting in the garage into a mail server when I go back home for Spring break. Unfortunately I haven't had a class on networking yet and I still have a few things to understand.

My questions are fairly basic so I Googled my questions but I guess my words were too vague that some of them ended up giving me varied results. Here is what I do know from my classes and other resources so far:

a) I'll need to buy a domain name from a domain name registrar in order to have the @domainname.com part of my e-mail address.
b) In order for point a, I'll also need a domain name server, most commonly BIND.
c) My mail server computer will need a static IP.
d) The user (me) will need getmail/fetchmail.
e) I'll probably also want SpamAssassin and a few other features on my mail server computer.

Here are some of the things I would like to know:

1. Some domain name registrars state that they give security or otherwise some additional features when I sign up with them, but aren't these things supposed to be my job?

2. What exactly do domain name registrars give to me that BIND or some other domain name server uses in order to set the static IP of that computer to "domainname.com"?

3. Does the mail server also need getmail/fetchmail?

4. Is it recommended to set the Machine name of my computer to match the domain name I buy or will it not matter?

Thank you in advance. I'm sorry for these basic newbie questions but as previously stated Google was unable to answer them.

Yes
No .. the name registrar can also host DNS for you, probably worth while so you don't take on too much at once.
Yes .. your internet connection will need to have a static address as well
You probably want an MTA like postfix, exim or sendmail - I suggest postfix.
Yes .. there are serveral tutorials around on configuring an MTA with anti-spam software.

Hi kbp, thank your for responding but those were some of the things that I did know, my questions were the numbered points.

Your server ip address needs to resolve correctly to the dns name, I see this all the time.

Your email may be dropped if your rDNS is not valid -- does not match and/or does not exist.

I would also, recommend using SSL and not having insecure ports open to the public_internet, otherwise you will be bombarded by dictionary attacks and flooded by bot-networks.

This would involve buying a SSL certificate but you can purchase one for less than $60, and not have every hacked server/bot-network pounding on your email server (through clear text protocols & insecure ports open)...

Sorry .. must have glossed over that part

1. you need to determine that for yourself, how much do you want to take on? DNS management as well as managing a mail server?
2. Domain registrars primarily perform domain registration, but they also do DNS hosting. You cannot perform domain registration just by running your own DNS server.
3. No
4. Doesn't matter

Okay, thank you both and I'll look into SSL.

I would for sainity, after having hacked email accounts and denial of service attacks I shut the insecure ports down and migrated to ssl.

You lose some speed, but you can go home and not have every hacked bot-network-pc working on your server when you are not.