Technology Explained: How Does An Email Server Work?
As an invention, email probably ranks close to the development of alphabets. We may IM and tweet to our heart’s content but it would be wrong to say that these shortcuts have been sired by the humble email to a certain extent. It has revolutionized communications though it may also have sounded the death knell for the art of letter writing. But that’s technology.
Email is serious but it’s several simple technologies at work, something we take for granted when we click compose and send. Behind each email is a powerful engine called the email server which pushes the emails through the internet. Many people use them, but how does an email server work?
To drive a car we need not have the ability to tell a carburetor from a tailpipe, but when it breaks down, that little knowledge helps. Email is less likely to crash but it definitely helps to have a broad picture of how Jim’s mail reaches Jane half across the globe in a blink of an eye.
The Big Picture – How does an email go from Sender to Recipient?Each email message is nothing but a text file plus the attachments. Just like all data through the internet, an email is also broken into smaller packets. When the sender clicks the send button, all the packets are uploaded to a central computer (the email server) that hosts the email service.
The email service then relays these packets through the internet to the server which holds the email service of the recipient. The mail server of the recipient looks for his email address, locates it and places the email within the inbox. The email client reassembles the packets into a complete mail. The recipient logs into his account and downloads the email.
...
