E-mail

E-mail
How does E-mail work?
E-mail addresses and Mailboxes

E-mail

E-mails, or electronic mail is now one of the most popular forms of communication. In fact, there are now more e-mails sent worldwide than actual post.

Emails have many advantages:

• Instant communication - worldwide
• Ability to send files (pictures, text documents, etc) to another e-mail box.
• You don’t have to run around trying to find that box of stamps you just bought :)
• Saves you money on postage

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How does E-mail work?

In a nutshell, e-mail works a lot like traditional postal mail. However the e-mail is sent via a computer network. The e-mail message is broken down into packets, and each of these packets is sent to various computers along the way until it reaches its destination, where the packets are re-assembled. This process happens in a matter of seconds.

To send and receive e-mail you need to be connected to the Internet, and you need to be using mailbox software.

Some mailbox software can be completely web based where you access them through your browser – such as when you use Missourinet’s Webmail facility, or using Hotmail. In this case you simply need to log in to your mailbox, and you can send and receive e-mails directly off the mail server.

Other mailbox software comes as programs that are installed on your own computer. Popular e-mail programs include Outlook Express, Microsoft Outlook, Incredimail, etc. These programs work by establishing a connection to the appropriate mail server, and then downloading the e-mail to your computer (if you are receiving e-mail) or uploading e-mails to the server (if you are sending e-mail).

For example, if you wanted to use Outlook Express to receive your Missourinet e-mail you would need to specify your e-mail account details before attempting to connect to the Missourinet mail server. You would specify:

• Your e-mail address, in the form: username@Missourinet.net
• The Incoming mail server (used to receive e-mail) which is: mail.missourinet.net
• The Outgoing mail server (used to send e-mail) which is: mail.missourinet.net
• Your Missourinet username
• Your Missourinet password

Given that information, Outlook Express can connect to the Missourinet mail servers and send and receive your e-mail for you.

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Email addresses and Mailboxes

When you create an e-mail address, you are creating the name for your e-mail box. This works just like your normal letterbox at home. The number of the letterbox combined with the street name stipulates where the letter goes, and the physical letterbox holds the letter until you empty it. E-mail works just the same way, you are simply using a computer. Your e-mail address stipulates where the e-mail goes, and the email box holds the email for you until you download it to your computer.

For example, the email address bob@missourinet.net stipulates that the email is addressed to the user bob on the Missourinet server. That e-mail will stay on the Missourinet mail server inside the bob mailbox until that e-mail is downloaded to the person’s computer.

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