Most people send e-mails without ever thinking about how their electronic messages are delivered between their own computers and their recipient’s. However, there is some technology behind the magic.
An e-mail server, sometimes referred to as just a mail server, is a server dedicated to handling and delivering e-mail messages over a network, usually the Internet. An e-mail server can receive e-mails from multiple client computers and then deliver the messages to other e-mail servers and other client computers. A client computer is typically a computer where e-mails are read, such as the computer at home or at the office. A Smartphone with e-mail capability is also a client computer.
When the “Send” button is clicked the e-mail program connects to a server on the network known as a SMTP server, which is an acronym for Simple Mail Transfer Protocol. The SMTP protocol delivers mail to and from clients between different mail servers. When the recipient downloads, or opens, an e-mail the e-mail program typically connects to a server on the Internet known as a POP3 server, which is the common acronym for Post Office Protocol 3.
When a new e-mail account is established the user must usually enter account information and specify the name of the server being used for outgoing e-mail messages as well as the name of the server used for incoming e-mail. This is how SMTP and POP3 servers communicate. However, when users set up e-mail accounts with services like Hotmail, Gmail or their local Internet service provider, the server designations are already set up for them. SMTP and POP3 servers can be located anywhere in the world, but are typically located in same country as the client computer.
Before the e-mail server that the sender’s e-mail program communicates with knows exactly where to send the message the server will examine the e-mail address of the recipient. The mail server first extracts the domain name, found after the “@” symbol, of the recipient’s e-mail address and uses the domain to locate the POP3 server that the recipient’s computer communicates with. For example, if the e-mail address is jsmith@xyz.com, the domain name is xyz.com. Once the server is identified the e-mail message is sent to the server. The next time the recipient logs in to their e-mail account the email is delivered to their inbox. Typically, the entire process takes just a few seconds. One final consideration to think about when it comes to Exchange servers, their operation, and how they work. There are a number of providers who offer MS exchange server monitoring tools & solutions, but only you can decide what’s right for you.