Server and System Status

The old relay server has now been deactivated. Please ensure that you are using the new relay server (relay.niner.net) with port 587. Please see Configure your Email Account to Use the Relay Server for configuration details, and contact us should you have any difficulties. Thanks.

The relay server has now effectively been moved from the United States (server NC020) to the United Kingdom (server NC023). The new relay server is processing email normally. The old relay server will continue processing email still in its queue until it is clear, and will then be disabled.

Please remember that the new relay server only accepts mail submitted on port 587, sometimes called the “submission port”. Attempts to submit outgoing email to the relay server on the default SMTP port (25) will be rejected. This is an anti-spam and anti-virus measure which will ensure that your network doesn’t inadvertently send spam or viruses through the relay server (thereby needlessly consuming your bandwidth), and will ensure that the IP address of the mail server doesn’t end up in blacklists, thereby delaying the delivery of legitimate email.

Configuration instructions for your email program are available at Configure your Email Account to Use the Relay Server. Please remember that these instructions only apply if you are already authorised to use the relay server. Otherwise normal email configuration instructions apply.

The relay server will move from the United States to the United Kingdom on 11 December at 19:00 UTC. This will move it closer to most of the clients who use it, making it faster to access.

There are three important points to note:

• Due to new anti-spam and -virus measures on the new relay server, email must be submitted to port 587. Submissions to port 25 (the default SMTP port) will be blocked. Please see Configure your Email Account to Use the Relay Server for instructions on reconfiguring your email account on and after Saturday.
• The address of the relay server (relay.niner.net) will remain the same.
• Some people using firewalls may need to allow the new IP address, which is 178.79.145.43. We suggest that you allow both the old and new IP addresses effective immediately until about 21 December to ensure a smooth transition back to the old IP address in the event of any problems with the new server.

If you have any questions, please contact NinerNet support. Thank-you.