Need Help With A Mail Server Program-Setup

[lino124]

Hi! I would like to setup a simple mail server in order for the employees to use the companies domain or name like [email protected]. We have a network with 20 PCs we haven't yet setup a server i dont no if that is necessary, because there isn't much of centralized work to be done. But now there is a need for email services. Any suggestion on the mail program that is easy to install, configure and if possible installation steps?
Discriptions
All computers are running Win XP SP2
40HDD, 512mb, SMC network cards some on board network card.
All connected to the switch. A 512 DSL running internet connection.
Antivirus: Panda, Norton, Zone Alarm, Avast and Avira.
We need something simple to install, Configure and use. By the way can  it be used outside the corporate, i mean can employees access it in an internet cafe?
If possible please help with the Installation guide. Management does not want exchange and outlook. Thanks for the help.  

[Rob Pomeroy]

Sounds to me like there is a budget issue here, and someone with experience really could do with talking to management, to appraise them of all the issues associated with email.  Since email is becoming more and more business critical, you cannot really afford to economise.

Many ISPs will make a webmail interface available with a control panel, so you can access your email via a web browser and the administrator of the domain can add and remove users.  That's probably the simplest/cheapest option.  Talk to whoever hosts your domain about that.

Other than that, "simple" and "mail server" are not often seen together in the same sentence.  >hMailServer< is probably the closest you're going to get, but no decent email server is particularly easy to configure, unless you have a very good idea of what you're doing.  It is a job for a professional really.

Written quotation available on request.  

[iandrewmartin]

lino124;

Here is a thought for you - and the hardware needs are modest - Proxy+. http://www.proxyplus.cz/

I have used it in the past as a proxy and mail server and it worked very well. A strong feature set and not a great amount of cost stands in its favour - obviously not as strong as say Exchange. Works for broadband and dial up siutaiotns so you get a little failover help if needed.

I wold recommend that you host your email solution as long as you can since it is such a pain in the *censored*. If you give me a little more information on your situation at the office I might be able to give you more help.

Hope this is of some assistance