ATT's domain change

[richb at pioneer.ci.net (richb at pioneer.ci.net)]

> Sorry to be so negative: there ARE advantages to having your own setup, not
> the least of which is secure web-based mail. It's working fine for me, but I
> *still* use the POP server, just so I can turn it off during thunderstorms
> or when I'm on vacation, or so my mail doesn't bounce if my server dies.

The no-hassle approach to fault tolerance I took with my own email uses
circa-1982 technology:  good old UUCP.  "We don't need no steenkin' POP3
here!"

The first MX entry for my domain is the MediaOne-connected server on which
I read my mail (locally, using elm, running whatever flavor-of-the-month
sendmail rev is most recently recommended by CERT).

The second MX entry is a friend's server, one which has a fixed IP address
on a Covad DSL line.  If my server is sluggish or offline, mail will wind
up on the friend's system.  Mine is configured to poll that one a few times
per hour, using trusty old UUCP-over-TCP.

It's a set-and-forget config that can handle IP address changes,
provider bankruptcies, sendmail worms, hailstorms--most anything
that's been thrown at it over the past 15 years or however long it's been
since I first got it working.  No plans to change it over the next 15
years either, unless I finally get fed up with updating sendmail three
times a year and switch to something else.

-rich