This is not a question about how to send emails in .net.
I just need some opinions about what is the best approach to send emails.
As part of the diagnostic process I need to automatically send emails from my
.net programs installed on various client terminals.
I was using GMAILs SMTP server to send mails and I know that I am going to reach
my 500 emails per day email limit soon.
So I am wondering if I can have a WebService on my hosting system and have the
client programs call my webservice to send emails.
This way I can use my own SMTP server.
Please let me know if this approach is scalable or any other alternate solutions.
TIA
It is a valid approach (centralizing the mail sending) and it helps with security at the firewall level (less machines getting access to port 25). But you just need to be careful about how open the service is to the public. Public services that send emails can quickly become mail relays for spam. Something like delegated access to the service, authentication, etc. should be at the top of your priorities when implementing this. It is scalable, because in the future, if needs be, you can queue up large amounts of mail without the clients knowing it.