I’m exploring some options to see if it’s viable to self host my email account. Currently I have:

• A home server that I can host the entire email stack but I cannot open the SMTP port there
• An AWS account where I can create a VM with SMTP ports open to the internet and reverse DNS support, also I have a domain and AWS SES configured and approved to send emails

Ideally I would want to send and receive from my home server, but that is not possible, so I’m exploring some alternatives:

For receiving emails:

• Cheap VM with postfix and my home server with dovecot, essentially forwarding all emails to my home server where I want them to be. I don’t know if this setup works tho.

• Keep everything in a VM, with the downside that I’ll need to do extra work there as it will have all my data. If possible I don’t want to go that route.

For sending emails:

• Sending from the same VM receiving emails, and have everything managed

• Use AWS SES to send emails in my behalf

Any input or opinion is appreciated. I’m currently exploring options, I haven’t made any decisions, so if you have a better alternative feel fee to share.

Thanks!