Google Apps Implementation

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Dear MyKenyanHost,

I've been looking into Google Apps for Your Domain and Google Apps Email, which sounds cool, but I'm confused about what it is and why you'd use it. If I sign up for Google Apps for Your Domain, is Google actually becoming the host for my domain, or just providing a bunch of services for it? What's the advantage to using GAppsFYD versus just vanilla Gmail and the rest? I have my own domain name that I use for my primary email address and my web site.

Signed,
Unsure About Mixing Google and My Domain

Dear Unsure,

(DONT be scare of the large paragraphs! There are some short video explainations available below...)

Google Apps for Your Domain is pretty cool for folks with their own domain names who want to manage a bunch of email/calendar/homepage users for it. To answer your question, GAppsFYD does not become your domain host, but it does provide a bunch of services, like Gmail, Google Calendar, a Start Page (a la iGoogle), Google Docs, Google Talk, etc. The difference between GAppsFYD services and free vanilla Google services is what you'd expect: your domain.

Example of GAppFYD

For instance, if your domain is MyCompany.co.ke, using GAppsFYD, you could set up a bunch of users who get Gmail, GCal, a personalized start page, and chat all with usernames like


  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it


  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

. Your users would log in to a Google hosted control panel (which you can customize with a MyCompany.co.ke logo), and all their email would get sent with their custom domain email as the From:


  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Here's a couple of image grabs to show you key items:

Simple Choice! Integrated Mail, Docs, Calendar, from ANYWHERE!

Why not just use a free @gmail Address?

The advantage here is that you don't have the "hey look at me using a free email service!" @gmail.com address. I know, I know, you can send vanilla Gmail messages from any email address, but it comes through reading "on behalf of This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it " in some email clients, and that's annoying. With GAppsFYD, if you decide to move email providers away from Gmail, you can do so without changing or losing your domain address.

Basically you get all the goodness of Gmail et al. (storage, spam handing, etc.) with total portability, and if you're a domain administrator, you can easily manage and create other people's accounts, too. At the price of free, that's a pretty sweet deal for small businesses and organizations, especially considering that most web hosts charge for extra email addresses and that kind of storage space.

Like I said, GAppsFYD does not provide web hosting in the traditional sense; like, there's no FTP access to the server, for example. There is Google Page Creator, which has a pretty decent in-browser WYSIWIG web page editor and 100MB of space to upload photos and files, which is perfectly serviceable for a nameplate site. If you want full on web hosting, you can use a non-Google provider but still use GAppsFYD Gmail and the rest.

So you need better email?
You need Google Apps?
You need Central Management without spending a fortune on a dedicated Mail Server?
If that's a "Hell YEAH!", then click on the button to the right for a great start!

Love,
MyKenyanHost

P.S. Here are some video explainations of the whole thing;

*Source: LifeHacker

Last Updated on Tuesday, 23 March 2010 13:36