What is an SMTP server?
SMTP actually stands for Simple Mail Transfer Protocol. It’s similar to choosing which mailbox or post office to use when dropping off outgoing snail mail. It makes sense to drop it off at the closest one. In this context, the ISP you are using to make the Internet connection via your modem will have the closest mailbox. If you establish your network connection through a commercial ISP and then configure Eudora, Outlook Express or Netscape Messenger to send outgoing mail through NYU, it’s as if you were sending out your travel log and “Wish You Were Here” postcards with a postmark from your hometown, rather than your vacation spot.
SMTP stands for Simple Mail Transfer Protocol and is simply the protocol used to transfer your outgoing email. The SMTP server accepts mail that you send from your email program and sends it to the appropriate mail server associated with your recipient. If it cannot successfully complete the delivery, it continues to try and keeps you informed via sending emails from the mailer daemon.
