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Helm: Personal Email Server

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Re: Helm: Personal Email Server

#201

Post by rntz »

garry wrote: post #148
gambler wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's hilarious how solvable most of these problems are, and yet they aren't even closed to be solved. Like, backups. Everyone knows how this can be done. Have automated scheduled backups. Encrypt them. Send to offsite storage. This should be handled through a generic backup protocol so you can choose your provider and be sure the app doesn't siphon your personal data. Users should not need to manually fuck around to…

I agree with you absolutely here. Yes, literally Helm does this: encrypted automatic backups.

You say Helm literally does this. But what the grandparent was asking for wasn't just backups. They suggest (as I see it) an open standard for backups, ubiquitously implemented so it's easy to switch your provider and easy to set up new devices.

Does Helm use one of those? I suspect not, because I don't know of any such ubiquitously implemented open standard for automatic encrypted backups.

So: is Helm going to put in the effort to define such an open standard and push for it to become ubiquitous?

Even if Helm implements automatic encrypted backups, it's still contributing to a fragmented world siloed into incompatible apps and platforms. Making your siloed service better than others won't fix that problem.

Re: Helm: Personal Email Server

#202

Post by gsreenivas »

isserson wrote: post #198

I really appreciate that the "hero" video _asked_ me to click. That already shows you respect me enough not to just auto-play in my face. I think the video suffers from a bit too much dramatization, especially at the end with the triumphant movie trailer music and awkward shots of people looking directly into the camera. I also think some of the copy on the main page could be edited to sound clearer and more natural.…

Thanks for the feedback!

Re: Helm: Personal Email Server

#203

Post by sjs382 »

garry wrote: post #166
sjs382 wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You could run a managed cloud e-mail service where only the users hold the encryption keys, too. How is this a hardware problem? This is the key question, in my mind. There's only one reason I'd want to own the hardware—to manage/add/create my own services and handle my own backups because I don't trust a company's involvement in these[0]. If this is so tightly controlled that I can't add my own services and I can'…

This is a valuable and useful criticism and we're going to talk about this at our next board meeting. How do you know who to trust? You surely have to trust someone. It feels generally true that we can trust Apple since we pay them for hardware and their ongoing business interest is in protecting their revenue streams through their hardware and iOS app store, which means you are aligned. Generally for Helm that's a g…

So, we're in agreement that this sort of thing should 1) be paid for, 2) not readable by the provider, and 3) maintenance-free for the user.

I still don't understand why this is a hardware play. There are advantages to owning the hardware but none of those advantages seem to apply here.

The hardware feels like a bit of an albatross.

Re: Helm: Personal Email Server

#204

Post by michaeltbuss »

I'm having a hard time understanding who would buy this. Non-techies aren't looking for a solution to this problem. And, the moment you mention encryption keys in your marketing you've lost them.

For $499 and $99/yr (!!), I don't think you'll convince techies this a worthwhile product either. Maybe the ultra paranoid users. But, in my experience those are also the people who can build their own solution.

Re: Helm: Personal Email Server

#205

Post by petilon »

I don't like Google reading my email either. But I still use Gmail because I can search 20 years of my emails (including ones I imported from Yahoo mail) instantly. It is surprising no one has mentioned search in this discussion.

Re: Helm: Personal Email Server

#207

Post by icedchai »

lvh wrote: post #157
icedchai wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not necessarily. Incoming email: port 25 is blocked on many residential connections. Outgoing email: If you send email from a residential IP block you're likely going to be flagged as spam.

If I understand correctly, incoming e-mail actually goes to some EC2 host.

With this service, yes. That is because not every internet connection can actually successfully run an email server, which proves my point...

Re: Helm: Personal Email Server

#208

Post by forapurpose »

gsreenivas wrote: post #125
keehun wrote: post #3

Interesting product with great potential. Their website doesn't seem to address my two main concerns: 1. How do they ensure high, non-spam delivery rates to the main email services like Gmail, Fastmail, Yahoo, and Microsoft? 2. How would the product work in case Helm the company/service goes away (or even just service outage)? Can the device work on its own without the need for their web service (perhaps with lower d…

Hi keehun - thanks for posting this on HN! I'm the co-founder and CEO of Helm. 1 - First, we cross reference IP addresses we assign to gateway against known blacklists. This helps ensure emails will be delivered. We also fully support email authentication (DMARC, DKIM, SPF) and configure reverse DNS as well. Lastly, the IP address for a gateway stays fixed so the domain and IP will build reputation over time. Helm se…

> Your Helm server will then initiate a TLS session with the server hosting your recipient's email

I'm not sure how Helm doesn't see the metadata:

* For outbound (as described) and inbound mail, do all mail servers support TLS connections? I was under them impression that many still communicate unencrypted.

* How does Helm avoid seeing the metadata, who is communicating with whom and when?

Re: Helm: Personal Email Server

#209

Post by ppeetteerr »

Have you heard of Synology? Their NAS's are not just personal email server, but personal document servers, web servers, everything, configured through an online interface. I would highly recommend you check it out.

Re: Helm: Personal Email Server

#210

Post by garry »

delroth wrote: post #142
garry wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because with Helm only you hold the encryption keys.

Does it matter if Helm is pushing auto-updates?

It matters as long as Helm as a company is not compromised. This is true of Apple devices too, and when pushed, they stood up.
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