MailCOPA Multi User Email Software - Mail Servers

Note that this information relates to OUTGOING mail, not INCOMING mail: the latter can usually be collected via any connection to the Internet.

When you send mail, it is initially sent to a mail (SMTP) server provided by your Internet Service Provider (ISP).

This will normally accept the mail, queue it, and in due course (often only a few seconds later) pass it on to the mail machine on the Internet which accepts mail for that address. If there are problems with the delivery, the mail will be re-queued and re-sent.

The accepting machine may either deliver the mail direct to the recipient (if they have a permanent connection to the Internet) or pass the mail on to a storage area, from which the recipient will collect it when they next connect to the Internet and request new mail.

Normally you can only use the mail relay provided by an ISP when dialled up through that ISP - this is in order that the ISP knows the identity of the sender (from the details given by you when you signed up) in the event of problems with the mail, usually legal problems such as libel, defamation or harrassment, or problems with the sending of messages to a large number of addresses (SPAM). Although logs are kept by ISPs of mail sent via their relays, they are only occasionally referred to, when such problems arise.

If you have accounts with two ISPs A and B, you can use the dialup of either, but if you have dialled up via ISP A, you must use the mail server of ISP A - if you try to send via the mail server of ISP B, you will be rejected.

Some ISPs (for instance the UK ISP Freeserve) transparently route outgoing mail to their own server, regardless of the one the user wishes to use. This is actually useful, as if dialled up via Freeserve, you can specify any mail server you wish, confident you will not be rejected, as it is actually the Freeserve server that accepts the mail.

Normally if you have access to more than one ISP, you must be careful to configure MailCOPA to use the mail server of the ISP through whom you will be dialled up. If you have several different users set up in MailCOPA, you may have a different ISP for each, and must ensure that when dialled up you have matched the current user with the corresponding ISP. When you wish to send mail, ensure that you select the correct connection in the DUN Connect dialog.

It is also possible to configure MailCOPA here to cycle through each of the configured mail servers in turn until one accepts the mail. However, this will happen with each message, introducing a delay for each, and could result in a long time online.