I recently came across http://www.google.com/a/ which claims I really don't know what it is all about. Could someone give me an idea how to work on it.

It basically means you can have username@yourdomain using Gmail as your interface. Login and all the services that Google can offer are accessable using any browser but the email sent will be from your domain address. This wasn't possible in the past since only "reply-to" was the only thing you could have made the modification.

With this service your "from" address will show yourdomain name while using the now familiar Gmail interface.

What's also clever is that you can create multiple identity email address. This means I can receive and retrieve other POP email and use different identity to send to appropriate receiver. It's very similar to Outlook's "sub-accounts" with different email profile. However, when looking under the full header, it still says google or gmail from full send path.

Xisto Corporation already has this service and I must say I am getting ready to switch over from Yahoo! to Gmail.

saddly i can't use all of their services because my mail exchange servers are messed up because I use a subdomain cover for forwarding,so I have to use my trap17 host for it which also sadly is currently suspened because I hvae been away from the computer for a few weeks and was not able to post at all... well i do really like what I can use with google.j thnx for pointing it out

It took me a long time to get my domain working on it. Thankfully it works now .

Yeah, I managed to set my mail to google hosted too.
I had lots of trouble understanding the whole concept though.

Where I registered my domain name, they offered Advanced DNS setting for a cost. I bought the service but later I found out that the nameservers have to be set to their own which I need to set to some other free space provider. So I lost a bit of money there.

Next, after realsing that MX setting is to be done by where the ns is set to (i.e. space provider). I found out that my space host (Awardspace.com) have blocked the mail for the free accounts and you needed to buy their email hosting packs. I left the Idea again.

My previous host buildtolearn.com suffered a crash for which i could not use that space.

I joined astahost with a hope that I would get hosted but NO I was denied!!

And I am here for the same reason (hosting requirement)

.. and that's my sad story which started out with Google Hosted Service

P.S. My old server is back and I have configured google hosted finally. But I am unsure of my host's stability.

Phew~~ I was searching for this topic. I didn't realize it would be under my nose

I'd like to run a quick instruction to use Google email Apps with Trap17 hosting members. The two requirements are that first, you MUST own a top level domain name. This includes all .ca .com .net .org .info .us .biz etc. The second is that you must be able to CHANGE MX records under your domain control. I say this because some domain registrars charge extra fee to enable this feature.

So, having all the above ready to go let's begin the procedure to use Gmail as your MX (mail exchange) service with Trap17 Hosting.
1. Sign up for Google Apps by going to the link mentioned above http://www.google.com/a
Depending on if you already have a gmail account or need to sign up for one, this is your first step to sign-in for Google Apps service.

2. Proof of Ownership
You have two choices to prove that you own and operate the domain name. First is to change CNAME records to Google. I wasn't comfortable with this at first--later I realized it's no big deal--so I optioned to upload a file to verify. This step is easily understood by following Google's online instruction.

3. Change MX records under domain control
In the dashboard of your new Google Apps, there's an instruction link to follow MX change information according to popular domain registrars. Whoever you have purchased your domain from, the basic idea is that you enter their MX record names with appropriate PRIORITY values.
This table shows appropriate MX record names with blank priority--since not all registrars use the same.

MX Server address	Priority
ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM.	**
ALT1.ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM.	**
ALT2.ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM.	**
ASPMX2.GOOGLEMAIL.COM.	**
ASPMX3.GOOGLEMAIL.COM.	**
ASPMX4.GOOGLEMAIL.COM.	**
ASPMX5.GOOGLEMAIL.COM.	**

Take NOTE that there's trailing "dot' at the end of each record. This isn't a typo. It's necessary. Follow the instruction carefully and you will be alright. Double check you have entered them correctly and click save/submit to change MX records of your domain.

4. The Critical Part in finishing MX setup
My first attempt was a failure because I forgot to do this step. Access your Trap17 cPanel and go to Modify Mail Exchanger (MX Entry) and select your domain (assuming it's already associated, add-on or parked) and enter ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM. (again the trailing "dot" at the end is necessary).

5. Activate your email with Google Apps
The last step is to let Google Apps activate by accessing your dashboard and click "I have completed these steps". Once clicked the Google Apps will check for correct setting and your account will be active fully.

The first attempt failed for me because I missed the step #4. The second attempt activating Google Apps mail took less than 3 mintues when I completed the step #4. All case may be different but this is how Trap17 hosting can be used with Google Apps.

Good luck. And if any information provided needs to be changed/updated please let us know

Google apps is great!
I shifted my college's mail server to google and now everyone is happy and since google offers academic sites premium service for free even the accounts department is jumping with joy.