Knowledge Base > E-mail Terms Defined
E-mail Aliasing | E-mail Auto Responders | E-mail Forwards | POP 3 | SMTP | SpamAssassin
Spam Filter | Web mail
POP Mail
POP3 stands for Post Office Protocol version 3, which is the generally accepted protocol used for authentication and downloading e-mail. The ability to provide E-mail services to clients includes two critical functions: SMTP and POP3. Together, they provide the means for clients to send outgoing mail and check for new incoming mail, respectively. POP3 service is the side of e-mail that allows clients to check for new incoming messages delivered to their POP3 e-mail accounts. The POP3 server performs two basic but important functions. First, it authenticates, or verifies, the identity of those trying to access certain POP3 accounts in the form of a login and password. Secondly, it allows clients to download any new e-mail they may have in their POP3 account(s). Think of the POP3 server in terms of your local post office. Just like snail mail, e-mail is routed in a similar fashion. Access to the mail requires authentication, whether in the form of a lock and key or login and password. Once authentication is verified, one can obtain any mail that might exist (in the PO Box or the POP3 account). Finally, you need to configure your e-mail client so that it knows what POP3 server to check for new e-mail. This "address" is similar to a unique address you would go to check your mail at a local post office. The same key would not work for the same box number in a different city, just like the same login and password would not work for the same POP3 account on a different POP3 server. In order to access the correct POP3 server, configure your e-mail client to access the POP3 (Incoming Mail) Server: mail.yourdomain.com.
SMTP
The ability to provide E-mail services to clients includes two critical functions: SMTP and POP3. Together, they provide the means for clients to send outgoing mail and check for new incoming mail, respectively. SMTP (SMTP stands for Simple Mail Transfer Protocol). This is the generally accepted protocol for outgoing e-mail. SMTP service is the side of e-mail that allows clients to send outgoing e-mail messages to any valid e-mail address. The SMTP server performs two basic but important functions. First, it verifies that anyone attempting to send outgoing e-mail through the SMTP server has the right to do so. Secondly, it sends the outgoing mail and if undeliverable, sends the message back to the sender. Think of the SMTP server in terms of your local post office. Just like snail mail, e-mail is routed in a similar fashion. While it does not cost a client 32 cents to send an e-mail, they must have permission to send the outgoing e-mail message. The post office requires postage to send the message to the recipient. Web Hosts requires that you have checked one of your POP3 accounts in the last 30 minutes for new e-mail before being allowed to send. Think of checking before sending the same as buying a stamp at the post office. Once this requirement is met the mail is sent to the recipient. However, problems can occur both in the delivery of e-mail and postal mail. Mail is sent to addresses which do not exist, and are therefore returned "address unknown" or "user unknown". Just like the postal service returning your mail with a message "stamped" on it as to why it was not deliverable, so will our SMTP server. When e-mail "bounces", or is returned to you, it is done so because it was undeliverable for one reason or another. Finally, you need to configure your e-mail client so that it knows what SMTP server to use for sending outgoing e-mail messages. In order to send mail through the proper SMTP server, configure your e-mail client to access the SMTP (Outgoing Mail) Server: smtp.yourdomain.com.
Web mail
The word Web mail refers to the implementation of an e-mail client as a Web application that allows users to access their e-mail through a Web browser, as an alternative to using a desktop based e-mail client such as Microsoft Outlook, Mozilla Thunderbird or Eudora.
Email Forwards
An e-mail forwarder is a special type of e-mail account which simply forwards all e-mail sent to a particular e-mail address @yourdomain.com to a specific POP3 e-mail account.
E-mail Auto responders
Auto responders are not true email accounts, but they do have an e-mail address and reply to anyone who sends them an e-mail. This is a handy tool if you want to send out the same information to anyone who asks for it. The pre-formatted e-mail is automatically sent as a reply, guaranteeing that every response is identical.
Email Aliasing
The practice of having multiple e-mail addresses all resolve to a single e-mail address. For example: a small business has an employee with the e-mail address jones@somedomain.com. This person is responsible for the sales and customer service of the company which has the separate e-mail addresses sales@somedomain.com and service@somedomain.com to handle the business of those divisions. Mail coming in to those two e-mail addresses will be forwarded by a mail relay to the e-mail address jones@somedomain.com so that the employee does not need to check three separate e-mail accounts to read the messages that are sent to the three different addresses.
Spam Filter
Spam is a term used to mean unsolicited, bulk e-mail that clogs your e-mail inbox and is often annoying. A spam filter is a program that will actually capture e-mails that look like spam before they are sent to your inbox. A mail filter is a piece of software which takes an input of an email message. For its output, it might pass the message through unchanged for delivery to the user's mailbox, it might redirect the message for delivery elsewhere, or it might even throw the message away. Some mail filters are able to edit messages during processing.
Spam assassin
SpamAssassin is a mail filter which attempts to identify spam using a variety of mechanisms including text analysis, Bayesian filtering, DNS block lists, and collaborative filtering databases.
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