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I currently have a 2GB RAM windows server 2012 which is has IIS and SMTP installed on there. Now I seen alot of people leave SMTP out on the webserver and buy a server just dedicated to handle the emails (SMTP server).

Now at this time I wont be having alot of traffic going in and out so I dont think it is wise to make such actions yet, is this correct?

If yes, at what point is it best to split the two servers up and dedicate a server just for emailing or at least split it off with the main web server.

Regards

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    You should dedicate a server to something at around the point that not doing so represents a capacity issue or other business risk that can easily be mitigated by moving the 'problem' subsystem to its own server.
    – Rob Moir
    Jul 26, 2014 at 17:41
  • I think it's important to define specifically how much traffic we're talking about. "a lot of traffic" is a bit subjective and can mean different numbers to different people.
    – Mike B
    Jul 26, 2014 at 18:09
  • possible duplicate of Can you help me with my capacity planning?
    – Cristian Ciupitu
    Aug 2, 2014 at 14:27

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Unless you have a high volume of email you shouldn't need a dedicated email server.

It is common to dedicate a domain name like smtp.example.com or mail.example.com to email. This can co-exist on the same server as the web service using the www.example.com domain. Use of dedicated domains in this manner is a sign of professionalism.

A few things you should consider:

  • Your mail server needs a static IP address. If you have a dynamic IP address, use your provider's (ISP's) relay server to send mail.
  • Your mail server's PTR record should match the domain your mail server uses.
  • You should have an A record for the domain your mail server uses.
  • rDNS (reverse DNS) validation should succeed for the mail server's IP address. (It will if the previous two rules are implemented.)
  • An SPF record allowing your mail domain to send email from its IP address should exist.
  • An SPF record preventing your web domain to send email should exist.
  • An SPF record allowing your mail server to send email for your domain should exist.
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