Electronic mail, or e-mail, consists of text messages
transmitted from computer to computer over communications networks such as
local area networks or the Internet. Unlike postal mail, however, electronic
mail is delivered around the world in a matter of seconds to millions of
possible recipients with little cost or difficulty.
It is helpful to understand some of the technical
terminology involved with the transmission of e-mail messages. Computers use
the following special protocols to communicate with each other so that mutual
comprehension occurs.
-
The Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) enables computers to
transfer and deliver e-mail to each other over the Internet.
-
The Post Office Protocol (POP), when prompted, downloads received
messages to recipients’ own computers. After recipients retrieve their
messages, the messages cannot be "put back" or stored on the server.
Using POP saves server disk space.
-
The Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP) enables users to
retrieve mail and store it on the server (unlike POP). Users can shuffle
messages to and from the IMAP server because both the mail directories and
messages are stored directly on the server. The IMAP protocol is especially
useful for people who check their e-mail from multiple computers.
This chapter includes information about the following:
-
SMTP Server Software (Sendmail)
-
E-mail Client Software
-
E-Mail Service Configurations such as Autoreplies, Aliases, and Virtmaps,
and Access control against spammers
-
Maintaining the E-mail Log File
-
Important Directories, Files, and Commands
In this chapter, you will be editing files. All
instructions in this chapter are given as if you have connected to your VPS v2 Virtual Server
using SSH, and are at the command prompt. After typing any UNIX command, press
the Enter key.
If you prefer to work in a graphical interface, you can
edit files using iManager. See “File Manager” for more information.
Section Table of Contents
|
