SMTP setup first time I've done this

September 20, 2023, 09:32:20 am

Would someone tell me what SMTP client is?

My SMTP info shows me everything else but not the client.

thank you,
Rick

Re: SMTP setup first time I've done this

Reply #1 – September 20, 2023, 06:01:05 pm

Quote from: Hometutor – September 20, 2023, 09:32:20 amWould someone tell me what SMTP client is?

My SMTP info shows me everything else but not the client.

thank you,
Rick

SMTP (Simple Mail Transport Protocol) is a Client/Server mail configuration. The Server is "in the middle" on the host, the Client's are on the sending/receiving end.
Outlook, Pegasus, Thunderbird, etc., are clients you can download and use on your own computer to create emails to send to a server email handler to process and forward on to the destination client. Roundcube, for example, is a client that resides and runs on the server that you can access via your web browser. While it's on the server, it's still a "client" of the email handling process. What defines a client is not so much where it's located, as to what it does.

In short, the client configures the credentials for authentication (use of the host mail server), the email address of the sender, the email address or addresses of the recipients, and the message content. The mail server receives the email package from the client, and if the package complies with the SMTP protocol (authentication, addressing, formatting, etc.), sends it along to the intended recipient(s). The recipient client receives the email package from the server, and displays it on the recipient's user interface.

The latest (I think) protocols Clients and Servers comply with (at this point in time) in order to make sure everyone is on the same page are defined in RFC5321 and RFC1123.

See section 2.1 of RFC5321 for a visual representation of the email client and server relationships..

While those are mind blowers, RFC1123 is being modified, augmented or supplemented by new (some say poorly defined) OLATH 2 advisories on authentication and security that are causing some consternation, still, the role of the client remains the same.