Electronic Mail
Michael Sampson
Institute for Effectivity, Christchurch, New Zealand
I. WHAT IS ELECTRONIC MAIL?
II. FUNCTIONS OF AN ELECTRONIC MAIL SYSTEM
III. E-MAIL ARCHITECTURES
IV. STANDARDS FOR E-MAIL
GLOSSARY
domain name system (DNS) A directory service on
the Internet that manages the addressing of
Internet-connected computer systems.
e-mail client Software that a person uses to work with
their e-mail, including sending and receiving, read-
ing and writing, and filing of e-mails.
e-mail server A software program that runs on a server
computer to provide e-mail services to users. Con-
nects with other e-mail servers to exchange e-mail
for users on remote servers.
internet message access protocol (IMAP) An Internet
standard for accessing messages stored on an In-
ternet e-mail server. Supports advanced server-side
and advanced client-side operations.
message transfer agent (MTA) The component of an
e-mail server that transfers messages to a remote
e-mail server.
message store The component of an e-mail server
that stores messages for users.
message switch A software program that allows
different kinds of e-mail servers to exchange
e-mail.
multipurpose internet mail extensions (MIME) A
group of Internet standards that extend the capa-
bilities of Internet e-mail to support attachments,
graphics, and rich text.
post office protocol (POP) An Internet standard for
accessing messages stored on an Internet e-mail
Encyclopedia of Information Systems, Volume 2
Copyright 2003, Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.
V. E-MAIL-ENABLED APPLICATIONS
VI. SUPPORTING INFRASTRUCTURE
VII. CONTEMPORARY ISSUES WITH E-MAIL
VIII. FUTURE ISSUES AND TRENDS
server. Supports basic server-side and advanced
client-side operations.
public key infrastructure (PKI) A set of technologies
that can be used with e-mail to add security and en-
cryption to messages.
simple mail transfer protocol (SMTP) An Internet
standard for the exchange of text-based e-mail be-
tween Internet e-mail servers.
SMTP gateway A software program that cooperates with
a proprietary e-mail server to translate e-mail into the
SMTP format for transfer to an Internet e-mail server.
I. WHAT IS ELECTRONIC MAIL?
Electronic mail (e-mail) is a computer-based applica-
tion for the exchange of messages between users. A
worldwide e-mail network allows people to exchange
e-mail messages very quickly. E-mail is the electronic
equivalent of a letter, but with advantages in timeli-
ness and flexibility. While a letter will take from one
day to a couple of weeks to be delivered, an e-mail is
delivered to the intended recipient’s mailbox almost
instantaneously, usually in the multiple-second to
subminute range. This is the case whether the e-mail
is exchanged between people on the same floor of a
business, or between friends at opposite points on
the globe. This article provides a comprehensive,
intermediate-level overview of e-mail, including its
main functions, historical and current architectures,
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