Is Microsoft Azure a good platform to host an MTA (Mail Transfer Agent)?
Summary
What email marketers say10Marketer opinions
Email marketer from Email Geeks shares that Azure now supports BYOIP (Bring Your Own IP).
Email marketer from ServerFault suggests using a dedicated email delivery service is more suitable as Azure isn't suited for this as it's likely to have issues regarding IP reputation.
Email marketer from Email Geeks shares experience where customers had trouble running on-prem MTA on Azure, noting that Microsoft frequently blocks its own IP ranges and AWS IPs had fewer issues.
Email marketer from Reddit suggests Azure Communication Services for sending email is cheap, but not free and requires configuration to get working properly.
Email marketer from Reddit explains that they tried setting up an MTA on Azure VMs but faced numerous issues with IP reputation and port 25 blocking, ultimately suggesting using a dedicated email service provider instead.
Email marketer from TechTarget explains that while Azure isn't primarily for email sending, Azure Communication Services provides an alternative, though it might involve a learning curve.
Email marketer from Stack Overflow suggests using SendGrid or other similar services integrated with Azure, instead of self-hosting an MTA due to complexity and deliverability concerns.
Email marketer from Reddit recommends using SendGrid, which has a smooth integration with Azure, thus simplifying the sending of emails from Azure services.
Email marketer from Reddit suggests Mailjet is cheaper but more unreliable than SendGrid. Both are good alternatives to setting up an email server on Azure.
Email marketer from Digital Ocean Community explains that using cloud providers like Azure to host MTAs can be challenging due to restrictions on SMTP ports and the need for proper IP reputation management. They recommend exploring alternatives such as using a dedicated email sending service.
What the experts say4Expert opinions
Expert from Email Geeks shares concerns about using Azure IPs for MTAs, suggesting they might be perceived as blockworthy. He suggests exploring other cloud MTA options like SocketLabs, Sendgrid, SES, and SparkPost.
Expert from Word to the Wise explains that cloud providers such as Azure frequently have issues with maintaining the reputation of IP addresses used for sending email, potentially affecting email deliverability for users hosting MTAs there.
Expert from Spamresource explains that using IPs provided by cloud services like Azure without proper warm-up and reputation management can lead to deliverability issues due to shared IP pools and potential for abuse by other users.
Expert from Email Geeks explains the size of the company impacts port 25 access, large companies have better negotiating power with cloud providers, and smaller companies get laughed at.
What the documentation says4Technical articles
Documentation from Microsoft Azure Documentation explains that configuring Network Security Groups (NSGs) correctly is crucial for allowing SMTP traffic, but it can be complex to manage and maintain, adding overhead to running an MTA on Azure.
Documentation from Azure Marketplace explains that SendGrid is available on Azure Marketplace, which allows Azure users to easily deploy and use SendGrid's email sending services, providing a scalable and reliable solution for sending emails.
Documentation from Microsoft Azure Documentation details Azure Communication Services which provides email capabilities, including sending and receiving, which could be utilized as a MTA alternative.
Documentation from Microsoft Azure Documentation explains that Azure does not directly provide SMTP relay services but offers alternatives like Azure Communication Services for sending emails.