What Is an Email Server? A Comprehensive Guide

What Is an Email Server? A Comprehensive Guide

Irrespective of so many marketing mediums, domain email hosting remains the most appreciated one.

Most Australian domain hosts offer web hosting plans that include email hosting, which makes it a cost-effective and convenient option. As small businesses are unaware of their email hosting needs, an integrated approach simplifies and enhances communication.

A humble email server lurks behind every email, contributing to safe and secure communication.

In this article, we will explain in detail what an email server is and how it is the backbone of email hosting in Australia.

What is an Email Server?

A mail server is like a message transfer agent that helps in sending and receiving mail from one place to another. It follows mail protocols along with software to deliver and accept mail.

This procedure takes place every time a mail is sent or received. Therefore, without an email server, emails cannot move in anybody’s inbox.

How Does Email Server Work?

For email hosting in Australia, you need to understand how email servers work. An email server works similarly to any other server.

An email server depends on the IP address linked to the email and DNS systems. These two elements help ensure that each email sent or received is routed to the correct recipient across the interest, regardless of the domain.

An email server is responsible for allocating outgoing email (like an SMTP server) or for recovering and handling incoming email (like an IMAP server).

The following are steps to understand the complete process of email hosting. You can understand how an email message is sent, transported, and received using an email server.

  1. When a sender, with the help of an email account, writes a message to their recipient and includes the recipient’s email address before clicking on send
  2. This email sent before landing in the recipient’s inbox goes to SMTP or outgoing email servers.
  3. In SMTP DNS record check happens as it helps in translating domain names in email addresses into IP addresses that email servers can use to show the path to an email.
  4. If the email has to go to a domain within the same network, then firstly, the server will route the email to the correct IMAP server.
  5. If the email has to go to a domain outside the network, the initial SMTP server will route the mail through unrelated SMTP servers.
  6. Finally, the incoming email server uses protocols like IMAP or POP to send all messages to the recipient’s computer. The recipient will find the message in the inbox.

What is the Importance of Email Server Protocols?

Now that we know how the email server works in the background, there is an additional process taking place for this movement. Email servers use protocols during the movement of email.

There are three types of protocols: Simple Mail Transfer Protocol, Post Office Protocol 3, and Internet Message Access Protocol.

  1. STMP( deals with the sending of outgoing email)
  2. POP3 and IMAP(deals with receiving of incoming email)

Therefore, whenever an email is sent or received in your inbox, remember these protocols are used for the smooth movement of your emails.

Conclusion

The email server is the backbone of email hosting, ensuring the smooth movement of emails on the Internet. It is backed up by your IP address, which handles all sent and received emails worldwide.

So, whichever device you use, the one thing you need to show the right path to your email is your email server.

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