If you don't mind having email go through Gmail etc, then you might not want to full host, but just run a local IMAP server. There are some pop to SMTP solutions you can use to pull your emails (fetchmail.) you can then use your account as an outbound relay. Keep in mind you'll only be able to set this up for a single account if you use something like Gmail.
If you buy a business product like workspace or m365, you should be able to setup relay/hybrid connectors for multiple accounts.
Don't feel bad, on my first flight I ran into the sun by accident.
Kept working on it and was rewarded with the rest of the game. For real I continued to die to spaceship piloting issues but it didn't ruin the game for me.