Introduction
SMTP stands for a Simple Mail Transfer Protocol. SMTP is a protocol that is used for sending email. SMTP is basically a set of commands that authenticates and directs the transfer of email.
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What Does SMTP Do?
Now a good way to remember what SMTP does is by looking at the acronym SMTP and associating it with ‘Sending Mail To People’. So as an example when you write an email using an email client such as Microsoft Outlook and then when you hit send, the email travels from your computer to your email server using the SMTP protocol.
SMTP Server Configuration
Now this server is also known as the SMTP server and this is what’s configured in your email client. So for example if you’re using Gmail, the SMTP server address would be smtp.gmail.com and then your SMTP server will send the message to the recipient’s email server also using SMTP.
How Email Delivery Works
Then the email will stay on the recipient’s email server until the recipient logs into their email account and downloads the email using POP or IMAP, or they can just view the email on the server by using webmail. Now SMTP uses the TCP protocol, and if you’re not familiar with what TCP does, well TCP is a connection-oriented protocol and it guarantees the delivery of the email.
Handling Email Delivery Issues
Now this is assuming that the destination email address is correct and still exists, but if for some reason that the email that you sent does not reach its destination. So for example, maybe you misspelled the email address, or the email address no longer exists. So if this happens you’ll get that familiar mail delivery error in your mailbox informing you that the email you sent failed.
Configuring SMTP in Your Email Client
And just like POP and IMAP, SMTP is also configured in your email client such as Microsoft Outlook, Mozilla Thunderbird, or your mobile device. So for example, if you’re using Gmail you would use smtp.gmail.com in the outgoing server settings in your email client and this is also known as the SMTP server setting. This setting tells your email client where it can send the email to.
Conclusion
So in conclusion, basically SMTP is similar to a mailman. The mailman picks up the mail from your mailbox at your home and then finds the correct route and then delivers it to the destination mailbox.
