SMTP only mail server set up

Hi all,


I have several applications and devices (nas, gateway router, back up application crystal reports automation app, etc.) each one of them has a capability to send out email notifications regards their status and so on. However, not all of them support SSL connections. So for some I can use a 'normal' gmail address to accomplish this and it works fine. Some, however, do not support SSL. So far, it seems, most of the popular/reliable mail providers require SSL So I have hit upon this idea to set up a freeware mailserver for SMTP services only. I would set it with no SSL required so presumably all of the apps and devices can use it. The mail would be going to external mail addresses/server such as gmail and hotmail solely for the purposes of these outgoing status emails.

I'm interested in the any community mail server expert's opinions.

1. Is mail server set up and maintenance sufficiently straight forward for a non-expert such as myself to manage? I prefer a 'Fire and Forget' type solution

2. Is it pretty much self contained that I don't need any external service providers with regards the mail server itself?

3. Potential security issues with outgoing mail services only but no SSL set up?

4. I just downloaded hmailsever and rooting around to see how it works. Are there better solutions out there I should consider?

5. How resource hungry would this server be? I'm hoping not to have to set up a whole new machine for it.

I'm not really interested in setting up a full fledged mail server at all.

I can run this mail server on a Win XP Pro or Win Server 2008 R2 machine, or an unused WinXp Home Premium machine

Thanks in advance for your inputs