SMTP POP3 IMAP Protocol Notes
SMTP POP3 IMAP Protocol Notes
SMTP POP3 IMAP Protocol Notes
Objectives
Upon completion you will be able to: Understand four configurations of email architecture Understand the functions and formats of a user agent Understand MIME and its capabilities and data types Understand the functions and commands of an MTA Understand the function of POP3 and IMAP4
TCP/IP Protocol Suite
SMTP
Protocol originated in 1982 (RFC821, Jon Postel) Standard message format (RFC822,2822, D. Crocker) Goal: To transfer mail reliably and efficiently
SMTP
User Agents Prepares the message, encloses it in an envelope. (ex. Thunderbird, Eudora) Mail Transfer Agent Transfers the mail across the internet (ex. Sendmail, Exim) Analogous to the postal system in many ways
SMTP
SMTP also allows the use of Relays allowing other MTAs to relay the mail Mail Gateways are used to relay mail prepared by a protocol other than SMTP and convert it to SMTP
Limitations in SMTP
No authentication mechanisms Messages are sent un-encrypted Susceptible to misuse (Spamming, faking sender address)
20.1 ARCHITECTURE
To explain the architecture of email, we give four scenarios. We begin with the simplest situation and add complexity as we proceed. The fourth scenario is the most common in the exchange of email.
The topics discussed in this section include: First Scenario Second Scenario Third Scenario Fourth Scenario
Figure 1
First scenario
Note: When the sender and the receiver of an email are on the same system, we need only two user agents.
Figure 2
Second scenario
Note: When the sender and the receiver of an email are on different systems, we need two UAs and a pair of MTAs (client and server).
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Figure 20.3
Third scenario
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Note: When the sender is connected to the mail server via a LAN or a WAN, we need two UAs and two pairs of MTAs (client and server).
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Figure 4
Fourth scenario
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Figure 20.5
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Note: When both sender and receiver are connected to the mail server via a LAN or a WAN, we need two UAs, two pairs of MTAs (client and server), and a pair of MAAs (client and server). This is the most common situation today.
TCP/IP Protocol Suite
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2 USER AGENT
The user agent (UA) provides service to the user to make the process of sending and receiving a message easier.
The topics discussed in this section include: Services Provided by a User Agent User Agent Types Sending Mail Receiving Mail Addresses Mailing List MIME
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Figure 6
User agent
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Note: Some examples of command-driven user agents are mail, pine, and elm
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Note: Some examples of GUI-based user agents are Eudora, Outlook, and Netscape.
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Figure 7
Format of an email
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Figure 8
Email address
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Figure 29
MIME
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Table 2 Content-transfer-encoding
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Figure 11
Base64
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Figure 12
Quoted-printable
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The topics discussed in this section include: Commands and Responses Mail Transfer Phases
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Figure 13
SMTP range
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Figure 14
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Figure 15
Command format
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Table 4 Commands
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Table 5 Responses
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Figure 20.16
Connection establishment
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Figure 17
Message transfer
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Figure 18
Connection termination
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Whole messa ge
IMAP:
Dr.Amer Friends
Internet
rs heade
Simple Allows the user to obtain a list of their Emails Users can retrieve their emails Users can either delete or keep the email on their system Minimizes server resources
Figure 19
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Figure 20
POP3
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