UNIX for Advanced & Expert Users

gurus,
i need to know 2 things,
first: how can i send mail over the internet in case of system failures/crash?
second: how can i receive SMS alert on my phone in case of failures?

do i need to start any service on my box?

thanks & regards
abhijeet

first:
The solutions are sendmail and qmail, you should google as there are lots of info on these on the web.
However.
1. You must have an internet connection and internet account, and a registered SMTP server. If you ISP gave you an email account it is possible you can use their SMTP server. If not, you must register yourself.
2. Make sure you have SMTP port open from your server to internet on your firewall. Some companies may have it blocked.

Second:
Most phone service providers now have an Mail to SMS service (for a fee) so you can send an email as sms using <phone no>@<telco>.com e.g. 9876543@telcom.com Ask your provider
If not there should be local services which provide this service for a fee (usually per message basis)
Finally use a program such as mail2sms and buy a GPRS modem.

The subject is quite big, but if your infrastructure is set up sending an SMS is easy using mailx to say 9876543@telcom.com in your scripts