Reclaim's Domain of One's Own and Managed Hosting service is unique in that it provides your project with a dedicated hosting server that allows you to make many customizations and adjustments specific to your set up.
One area that can be customized is how your server handles email. This can include email accounts and domain-based email hosted on the server, as well as application-generated email (messages that websites and applications send automatically). For example, an Omeka installation might send an invitation when someone is invited to collaborate on a site, while a WordPress site might send password reset emails, comment notifications, or other messages that are automatically triggers when someone interacts with the site.
By default, Exim sends email directly from the server to the recipient's mail server rather than through an external SMTP relay. While direct delivery can work, it can also cause email deliverability issues. Receiving mail providers consider factors such as the sending server's IP reputation, SPF, DKIM, DMARC, and other characteristics when deciding whether to accept a message, deliver it to the recipient's inbox, or send it to spam. As a result, legitimate messages sent directly from a public web server may be rejected or filtered as spam.
If you're experiencing issues with users not receiving password resets, application invitations, notifications, or other emails from your websites, changing how your server sends email may help.
We offer two SMTP relay options that can be used instead of direct delivery: a Managed SMTP Relay, where Reclaim provides the SMTP service, or Bring Your Own SMTP Relay, where your institution or organization provides its own SMTP service.
The option that works best will depend on your institution's or organization's existing email infrastructure and the applications hosted on the server.
Option 1: Managed SMTP relay
With the Managed SMTP Relay option, Reclaim configures Exim on the server to send all outgoing email through an SMTP smarthost for you. Rather than attempting to deliver messages directly to the recipient's mail server, Exim hands the messages off to the SMTP relay, which is then responsible for delivering them to their final destination.
With this configuration, all email sent from the server uses an @reclaimhosting.email address as the domain in the "From" address. The use of the reclaimhosting.email domain allows the relay to manage authentication and reputation for messages sent through the service.
The Managed SMTP Relay is subject to a limit of 200 outgoing messages per hour per server. This limit applies to the server as a whole rather than to individual websites or accounts. For example, since a Domain of One's Own server hosts multiple websites, the combined email generated by all of those websites counts toward the server's hourly limit.
This option is generally the simplest choice for institutions or organizations that do not have their own SMTP relay or email service available.
Option 2: Bring Your Own SMTP relay
Institutions or organizations that already have an SMTP relay or email delivery service can choose to have Reclaim configure the server to use that service instead. With this option, Exim is configured to route all outgoing email through the SMTP relay provided by the institution or its chosen email service.
This allows the institution to maintain control over the email service used to deliver messages from applications hosted on the server. It also allows outgoing messages to use a custom domain of the institution's choice in the "From" address. For example, an institution could configure its SMTP service so that applications send messages using an address such as wordpress@example.edu or noreply@example.edu, rather than an @reclaimhosting.email address, as in option 1.
Reclaim Hosting can configure Exim to use the institution's SMTP relay, but the exact requirements for the relay will depend on the service being used. Institutions should work with their respective IT teams to determine which SMTP service should be used and what credentials or connection information are required.
If you'd like to proceed with option 2, you can have your IT team reach out to support@reclaimhosting.com to get that process started!