Whats the difference between smtp, pop3, and imap4?

[ivwshane]

I'll be setting up an email server for personal use soon and there are alot of mail servers out there and some only suppor certain protocols while others will support more than one.

What are the advantages and disadvantages to using either one?

This is how I plan to use it;

I will have a dedicated mail server on 24/7 running win2k server, I will want to access my email from the internet and want it to be secure. The mail server will also be on the same network as my other server (ftp, http, and file and print server) so I want it that system to be secure as well. The only other requirement is I need something that wont take up alot of bandwidth (overhead) since I only have a 30KB upload.


Thanks for any help or relevant links.

 

[Nothinman]

POP3 and IMAP4 are two different protocols for downloading mail from a mail server.
SMTP is a protocol for transferring mail between two mail servers.

I basically run:

Courier-IMAP with SSL enabled for connections from the Internet.
Postfix for SMTP, only allowing relaying from my internal machines. One day I hope to setup POP-before-SMTP so I can relay from anywhere after I've logged into the IMAP server.
Apache with SSL and Horde IMP3 for webmail access, nothing beats this IMO although it needs a database for it's setting and session storage (I use MySQL for this).
Procmail for filtering on the server, it automatically filters mail to the appropriate folder as mail arrives without the intervention of a mail client.
All running on Debian Linux.

It sounds like a lot but it's really not and it's really easy to setup, IMO.

 

[ivwshane]

I was hoping to avoid linux only because I don't have the time to learn it and I was trying to keep everything windows based.

So it sounds like I will need to open up smtp ports on my firewall and then I'll have to choose between POP3 and IMAP4 for downloading the mail. What's the difference between POP3 and IMAP4?

This is what I plan to use since it seems to be a one stop shop for all my needs and it will intergrate nicely into active directory (not that I really need that since I'm the only user).







PS
Your solution does sound like alot:Q
And unfortunately it's a little too advanced for me, especially the webmail access part but it does sound interesting.

 

[Nothinman]

What's the difference between POP3 and IMAP4?

The main difference from the user end is that with IMAP the mail is all kept on the server and folders can be setup on the server, with POP it's downloaded to the client (you can leave it on the server but you can't create folders and the mail has to be completely downloaded to the client anyway).

Kerio MailServer 5 / 20 users $395

Little bit too rich for my blood.

especially the webmail access part but it does sound interesting.

Check out the screenshots of IMP, it's bad ass =) http://www.horde.org/imp/screenshots/ (note the banners in the inbox.lv shots are not present unless you add them yourself)

 

[ivwshane]

Wow that does look pretty sweet! it's got sms too!
It's only for linux though right?


I'm not too worried about the price since this will just be a trial and I'm just looking to see what's out there and get a hands on experience.

 

[Nothinman]

It's only for linux though right?

It's PHP so it should run on IIS or Apache on Windows as long as you can get PHP working there.

 

[ivwshane]

Which again is beyond my scope but I hope to one day understand php and other web related languages and databases.

I've done a little more research, which basically coincides with what you said and it sounds like impa4 would be the way to go.