Monthly Archives: February 2013

How to use your domain with Gmail (no Google Apps required)

domain.com

So I was looking for a solution for using a Gmail account with my domain (willstare.com). After finding out that the free version of Google Apps is no longer offered to new customers, I was forced to come up with my own solution. I knew that Gmail allowed users to have an ‘alias address’ to send and receive from, but that required an active email account to work (for verification). Here’s what I did to get around that requirement.

Go to your domain host (I use domain.com), and configure a new email forwarder. You do not need to make an email account, only a forwarder. Forward the email address that you would like to create (ex: test@willstare.com) and point it to a Gmail account (ex: test.willstare@gmail.com). After doing that, make your Gmail account, and login. Open the settings and select Accounts and Import. Then select ‘Send mail as:’ and add your test account that you set up earlier (test@willstare.com).

Now it will require a verification email to be sent to confirm that you own the email account. Because you have already configured the email address to forward to your Gmail account, it will arrive in your inbox, technically confirming that you ‘own’ that address. Enter the verification number, and you should be set. This worked for me, I hope it helps others.

Changes in hosting

dell-poweredge-2950medium

I switched hosts recently to a dedicated server provided by i3d.net. I got a great deal on it, and have been really pleased thus far.

Processor: Intel Xeon X3220 (2.4ghz x4)
Memory:     4gb ddr2
HDD:          250gb x2
OS:            Ubuntu Server 12.04 LTS

The server is a Dell Poweredge, and hasn’t slowed down one bit since it was provisioned. I get 10tb of transfer per month, which is a nice boost from the 2tb i was receiving from VolumeDrive. The server is located in the Netherlands, but latency is not bad at all, and is not important to the duties I have it doing. I plan on keeping the VPS for another month, but I will be dropping my service with VolumeDrive shortly. The node I was on has been crashing often, and their network isn’t as good as it used to be. It was good while it lasted.