Page 3 of 3
I prefer a two-level spam filtering approach. The e-mail server should reject most of the spam, such as from known spam senders
and messages with obvious routing errors common to spoofed messages. Each user should then have their own spam filtering in
their e-mail software to fine tune the message flow based on their own tolerance. Thunderbird, the free e-mail client from
Mozilla.org, does an excellent job. Microsoft's Outlook and Outlook Express, which I recommend replacing, are at least getting
better filtering and security support from Microsoft and outside vendors.
 Related linksGaskin writes books (16 so far), articles and jokes about technology and real life from his home office in the Dallas area.
He has been helping small and midsize businesses use technology intelligently since 1986. He can be reached at readers@gaskin.com.
Obviously Chasin and MX Logic believe the hosted service approach serves customers best (that's what they sell, after all).
For companies without enough downstream bandwidth to their mail servers, such a service maximizes their bandwidth usage because
MX Logic filters most of the spam and relays only good messages. Server-based spam and virus filtering programs work, but
they have to examine every e-mail they receive. That means your server must chew through the three bad messages to get to
the one good message, increasing the load on your server and your downstream bandwidth.
Services from MX Logic and others range from $1 to $3 per user per month. You may decide that cutting your e-mail traffic
load by three-quarters by letting someone else filter the spam is a bargain at only pennies per day.
|
