Email servers and clients

Email servers and clients

Using email requires two things: an email server and an email client.

The email server is a piece of software that runs on the server (computer) and is constantly connected to the internet. It receives and processes any mail sent to it, and sends any mail you tell it to send.

The email client is the app you use to view your mail. This might be an app on your phone, something you view in a web browser, or a desktop application like Microsoft Outlook. The client checks the mail server for new messages, and stores them for viewing. It provides an interface for reading and writing messages. It sends outgoing messages to the server, which sends them to their intended recipients.

The server and the client are two different pieces of software, and they communicate using standardized protocols (POP and IMAP; see below). This means that the choice of server and choice of client are independent of each other.

People get confused about this all the time. One of the most often-heard reasons people have for not wanting to switch from their personal email addresses to organization-controlled email addresses is that they don’t want to have to change how they read and write email. They use Outlook, or Apple’s Email, and they think they will have to change. This is not the case.

Most email clients can connect to most email servers with no problem. Even better, most email clients can connect to multiple email servers and work with multiple email accounts at the same time. This means that someone who is using (for example) Outlook on their computer to check their personal email account can set it up to check their professional email as well.

Read More»

Email protocols: POP and IMAP

Email protocols: POP  and IMAP

The two dominant email protocols are POP andIMAP. (A protocol is a standardized way of moving information from one place to another.)

POP stands for “Post Office Protocol.” You will sometimes see it written as “POP3,” because the protocol is in its third iteration.

IMAP stands for “Internet Message Access Protocol.”

Both are ways of moving message information from servers to clients, but they are otherwise very different from each other.

POP is based on a “Post Office” model. The server delivers messages to you, but does not otherwise keep them or store status information about them. IMAP provides a high degree of syncing between the server and the client.

You really want to be using IMAP most of the time. With IMAP, the details of whether you have read a message, the content of drafts, and other information about your own interaction with mail is saved on the server. This means that your email experience is fully synced even if you use multiple devices, like your laptop and your phone, to read the same email.

When you are looking at web hosting plans, be sure to find one that supports IMAP in the email server.

Read More»

Email, Webmail, and Mail Servers

 Email, Webmail, and Mail Servers

More fundamental than running a website is the importance of reliable email service. You have a number of options in how you set up your own email service for your company. You’ll be better equipped to choose the right option for yourself if you understand a little bit about how it all works.

Email and domain names

As you almost certainly know, email addresses take the following form:

name@example.com

Everything before the @ sign is the local name, and everything after it is the domain name.

It is a very bad practice, and unfortunately much too common, for small organizations and sole practitioners to use a commercial email service with a domain name like @gmail.com or@aol.com. This is a bad practice because it looks unprofessional, amateurish.

It’s a very minor point, but it has a big impact on the way your clients and potential customers think about you.

In an organization, such as a small business or (more commonly) a small non-profit, the too-common practice of using personal email addresses can introduce legal and ethical problems as well, because of the inevitable mixing and confusion between personal and professional communication. Also, email addresses controlled by the organization can be turned off, blocked, forwarded to another address, or taken over by another user.

Email servers and clients

Using email requires two things: an email server and an email client.

The email server is a piece of software that runs on the server (computer) and is constantly connected to the internet. It receives and processes any mail sent to it, and sends any mail you tell it to send.

The email client is the app you use to view your mail. This might be an app on your phone, something you view in a web browser, or a desktop application like Microsoft Outlook. The client checks the mail server for new messages, and stores them for viewing. It provides an interface for reading and writing messages. It sends outgoing messages to the server, which sends them to their intended recipients.

The server and the client are two different pieces of software, and they communicate using standardized protocols (POP and IMAP; see below). This means that the choice of server and choice of client are independent of each other.

People get confused about this all the time. One of the most often-heard reasons people have for not wanting to switch from their personal email addresses to organization-controlled email addresses is that they don’t want to have to change how they read and write email. They use Outlook, or Apple’s Email, and they think they will have to change. This is not the case.

Most email clients can connect to most email servers with no problem. Even better, most email clients can connect to multiple email servers and work with multiple email accounts at the same time. This means that someone who is using (for example) Outlook on their computer to check their personal email account can set it up to check their professional email as well.

Read More»

Internet Connection & Technical Support

Internet Connection
Web hosting companies are not internet service providers — they have to purchase internet connectivity just like you do, and run their connections over someone else’s cables.

Actually, it’s worse (more expensive) than your own internet service because web hosting data centers need speed and bandwidth at orders of magnitude higher than you have in your home or business. They are running hundreds or thousands (or hundreds of thousands) of servers, each one requiring internet connectivity at least as fast as your home or workplace service.

Support

If you want to call someone, or get a prompt answer when you email, you’re going to have to use a hosting company that provides at least some level of support.

Support might come in the form of FAQs, knowledge base articles, detailed guides, phone support, email support, or a help desk ticketing system. Proactive server management can be thought of as a form of support.

As with all things, you can expect that a more comprehensive support program is going to cost more than an otherwise equal hosting package without a support plan.

Read More»

Types Of Web Hosting

Types of Web Hosting Services

There are multiple types of website hosting solutions available to host your website project. Before going to purchase web hosting package, it is prominent to learn what kind of hosting your website require, the type of hosting your website or project require, your cost, and what type of features the hosting service provider offers you to store your website data on there server.

Hosting options available are:

• Shared Hosting
• Virtual private Hosting
• Dedicated Hosting
• Cloud Hosting
• Reseller Hosting

Shared Hosting:- means that the website shares the same web space with other websites, in shared hosting one processor is provided to other website along with your website space. All domains may share the same processor of services resources like the CPU and RAM.

It is cheap in cost. So, any time you see website hosting for minimum cost in a month or year, 85% out of 100%, it’s shared hosting.

The benefit to have shared web hosting is that it’s very low in cost. Nevertheless, when you share a website space or resources with other websites, your website speed might be low during other websites are taking for the server resources. 

Their might be more number of possibility to hack website data or content which is stored In shared hosting as compare to other hosting type because you have no surety that all the other websites content or data on the server are being upgraded time to time or not.

Virtual private Hosting:- A virtual private server hosting distributes a server space into virtual servers menace for different websites where each websites is like hosted on their own personal server, but they’re actually sharing a server space with a multiple users this is the type which exist between shared hosting and dedicated hosting is the virtual personal hosting. With this type of hosting, one user can share the server space with other users but you have your own virtual environment with access to the root of the web space. And the important thing is that the web server or VPS don’t affect your website speed.

Reseller Hosting:- This service is user for those users who want to start their own business or resell their own web hosting space. It's also a one of the good option for those who is maintaining large number of websites, as it makes it easier to manage multiple websites under one control panel.

Dedicated Hosting:- In this type of hosting you get the entire server space dedicated to your website only. A dedicated server provide the full control of the web server on which your website is allocated – You purchased an entire space. Your website is the only website which is stored on that allocated space. You do not have to share the server space with other users or with other website, other website can not access or store their data or files on your server space However,The difference along with prices is that dedicated hosting provides high amount of security and full root level access to server resources as compare to other types of hosting which is mentioned in the same sections.

Read More»