End of free GSuite

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DeskJockey
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End of free GSuite

Post by DeskJockey »

Acccording to this. Basically start paying for the service or lose it.

I've been hosting my domain on there since 2013, so probably can't complain about having 9 years of free mail hosting. I've bought extra storage for photos, but apart from that, don't use any other features. There are things I would have liked to use (like the family safety options) but they don't work with GSuite, at least not the free tier.

So, I think it is time to consider options. Moving to Apple is not one of them.

Option 1: Pay Google for the service. Have eight users to take across. Easiest as there is nothing to change or migrate. Just cost and broken features.
Cost is £4.14 (on a deal, normally £4.60) per user per month (+£7.99/month for storage for one account).

Option 2: Host email somewhere else, move Google photos from current account to a free Gmail account (currently share an account with my wife for photos).
Cost unknown + the £7.99/month for 1TB of photo storage.

Option 3: Host email somewhere else, move everything to M365 Family which while only giving six Office licenses, will cover our needs. Photo account won't need Office, just storage, my dad and sister already have M365 access through other means.
£80/year for M365 + mail hosting.

Option 4: Host email somewhere else, replace Synology with DSM7 capable NAS to get access to the recently launched Synology Photos tools. Will also be limited by broadband speed.
Likely to cost about £5-600 for the NAS alone + mail hosting on top.

All options bar 1 will additionally require a significant investment in time and perhaps also temporary cost for migration tools (Multcloud being one option to easily move 40k+ photos).

So, hive mind (@Beany, @tim especially), what wise counsel do you give?
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Sundayjumper
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Re: End of free GSuite

Post by Sundayjumper »

The details are beyond me but you can set up a Synology NAS (and presumably other brands too) to be your email server. Does that help ?


https://kb.synology.com/en-uk/DSM/tutor ... nology_NAS
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DeskJockey
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Re: End of free GSuite

Post by DeskJockey »

I know you can run a mail server on the NAS, but I am looking for something that requires minimal management and maintenance. My days of running a complex home setup are long gone. I no longer have the energy to spend my evenings troubleshooting an annoying issue and as others depend on the service, I can't just ignore things.
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Sundayjumper
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Re: End of free GSuite

Post by Sundayjumper »

In that case, option #1 is the easy winner, surely, requiring zero effort ?
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DeskJockey
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Re: End of free GSuite

Post by DeskJockey »

Sundayjumper wrote: Thu Jan 20, 2022 9:11 pm In that case, option #1 is the easy winner, surely, requiring zero effort ?
It is, but it rankles being forced to have to pay for a service that isn't very good, with features that have been broken for years. just making sure I don't just jump in without considering the options.
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tim
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Re: End of free GSuite

Post by tim »

Go Microsoft 365. Buy it from me. :p

Don't overlook the cloud services do not provide a disaster recovery of your data. If your photos etc are super important, get a backup for the O365/G-Suite. Also buy that from me :)
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DeskJockey
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Re: End of free GSuite

Post by DeskJockey »

YHM
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tim
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Re: End of free GSuite

Post by tim »

I am with Gin, will respond in the am. (Y)
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DeskJockey
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Re: End of free GSuite

Post by DeskJockey »

I respect your decision.
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Sundayjumper
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Re: End of free GSuite

Post by Sundayjumper »

Only if it’s craft gin, and expertly curated artisan tonic.

If it’s Gordon’s and Schweppes you can all gtf.
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DeskJockey
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Re: End of free GSuite

Post by DeskJockey »

Now, now, no need for such crassness. What @tim chooses to drink is of no concern to anyone but him. But obviously, he wouldn't drink that. I hope.
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Sundayjumper
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Re: End of free GSuite

Post by Sundayjumper »

I’m drinking wine from the Co-Op, that comes in a 3l box with a tap on it.

I won’t judge you if you judge me :)
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DeskJockey
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Re: End of free GSuite

Post by DeskJockey »

We've just finished a bottle of I-can't-remember-what-red. It was nice.
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tim
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Re: End of free GSuite

Post by tim »

Adnams Copper House and a fever tree tonic. I like it. IDGAF if you don’t 😄
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Beany
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Re: End of free GSuite

Post by Beany »

Spend the months leaning Linux, postfix, dovecot, DNS and smtp, then build your own mail server.

Then realise that's fucking mental.

Then build it on your Syno. And realise your still need to have decent DNS/SMTP chops.

Then just pay for whichever of Google or MS works best for you.

HTH from painful experience; my personal email runs off my NAS but once I have more money I'll just be wanging it on Gmail etc because email is an utter pain in the cunt to manage full time, and is genuinely better left to other people.
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DeskJockey
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Re: End of free GSuite

Post by DeskJockey »

I once did the Exchange 5.5 Administration course (when it was modern). Not managing my own mail server.
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Beany
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Re: End of free GSuite

Post by Beany »

DeskJockey wrote: Fri Jan 21, 2022 11:06 pm I once did the Exchange 5.5 Administration course (when it was modern)
I'm.... I'm so very sorry.
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DeskJockey
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Re: End of free GSuite

Post by DeskJockey »

Thank you, that means a lot. It was a traumatic time, but I got through it.
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NGRhodes
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Re: End of free GSuite

Post by NGRhodes »

Biggest issue with hosting your own mail server is maintaining IP reputation (which affects spam filtering and receiving emails), not worth the hassle if you have to rely on your email in any way. If you are going to host your own email, I would highly recommend you use an SMTP service (eg sendgrid or mailgun - not that I have used either personally), rather than your own SMTP service to avoid IP reputation issues.
If you want straight forward, but highly configurable email with barely adequate spam filters at silly low prices then mxroute.com are worth a look (I used them to satisfaction).
I currently use www.gandi.net email service for email accounts on a few different domains, its basic but cheap and reliable and caldav/carddav works great.
Fastmail are a good premium email service with very good webmail and apps if they are a priority to you, used them many moons ago when I lost my Free GSuite account (because when I got my first android phone I signed in with my gsuite credentials, got a duplicate account error, was asked to merge accounts, clicked Okay to find out it had merged my credentials OFF my GSuite account onto a regular Gmail account).
NGRhodes
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Re: End of free GSuite

Post by NGRhodes »

DeskJockey wrote: Sat Jan 22, 2022 7:09 am Thank you, that means a lot. It was a traumatic time, but I got through it.
Back in those days, our exchange admins seemed to spend all their time repairing databases and rebooting servers, we used to have a joint laugh they maybe ran access databases under the hood, we used to have to do the same for Visual source safe on a weekly (sometimes more often) basis.
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