How Email Works

fa.arpa-bboard
utzoo!duke!mhtsa!eagle!ucbvax!WESTINE@USC-ISIF
Tue May 19 16:46:46 1981
RFC 780 now available

A new RFC is now available in the NIC online library at SRI-KL.

RFC 780:
      Title: Mail Transfer Protocol
      Author: S. Sluizer and J. Postel
      Pages: 43
            pathname: [SRI-KL]RFC780.TXT
      Defines the new Mail Transfer Protocol (MTP) to be
      used for Internet Text Mail. Designed to be used with
      both TCP and NCP…

–jon.

Email servers exchange messages over the Internet using the SMTP protocol. Client applications log into the servers to send and receive email using one of several protocols, including POP3, IMAP, and MAPI. The following sections provide more information:

Resources. Other sources of email design information:

  • Internet Mail Consortium, an industry organization of email product vendors that provides information on email standards, interoperability, and internationalization.
  • RFC 2076, Common Internet Message Header Fields, describes a range of Internet headers including email headers.