What is an Incoming Mail Server?
Incoming Mail Server: the incoming mail server is the server associated with you email address account. There can not be more then one incoming mail server for an email account. In order to access your incoming messages, you need an email client: a program that can retrieve email from an email account, allowing a user to read, forward, delete, and reply to email messages. Depending on your mail server, you can use a dedicated email client (like Outlook Express) or a web browser (like Internet Explorer, for accessing web based email accounts, like Hotmail). The mail is held in storage on the incoming mail server until you download it. Once you have downloaded your mail from the mail server it cannot be downloaded again. In order to download your Email, you must have the correct settings configured in your Email client program. Most incoming mail servers are using one of the following protocols: IMAP, POP3, HTTP.
In order to handle email uniformly across networks like the Internet, the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) was designed and is the standard protocol used for email exchange. At the server level, SMTP is responsible for both sending and receiving email between relay hosts that route the mail through the network to its destination. At the client (user) level we associate SMTP with sending mail only, and the address of the outgoing mail server is often smtp.[thedomain].com. The incoming mail server address, however, might be named after a retrieval protocol, such as Post Office Protocol 3 (POP3), pop3.[thedomain].com, or Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP), imap.[thedomain].com. Internet Service Providers (ISPs) commonly provide its customers with a POP3 incoming mail server address. Authentication is required to collect mail from an incoming mail server and takes the form of the email address and associated password. This might be a proprietary password used just for mail, or the
It’s just what it sounds like it is. This is the server where your incoming mail is stored until you pick it up. The address will usually be in the format “mail.adomain.com”. If your ISP and your e-mail address domains are the same, your outgoing mail server will usually be in the format “smtp.adomain.com”. If your domain (assuming you own one) is hosted elsewhere, the outgoing mail server generally has to be your ISP’s outgoing mail server, e.g., “smtp.myisp.com” and your incoming mail server will be “mail.mydomain.com.” Does that make sense?
