NetMAXFAQ : FTP / Mail / Time Services : What happens when I click "Send" in my mail client?

Have you ever wondered what happens when you finish an email message and click "Send?" This article is a brief and general discussion on the subject "Where does the mail go?" Basically, it works in much the same way as real-world mail: The local SMTP receives outbound messages. The destination address is analyzed. The SMTP server checks for the DNS mail exchanger (MX) record of the domain in the destination address. This points to to SMTP server that handles inbound messages for the destination email address. The message is sent to the destination SMTP server. If there is a problem, either the SMTP will hold on to the message and try to retransmit later, or it will bounce and a bounce notification will be send to the originator of the message. If there are no problems, the SMTP server will usually pass the message off to a special program called the "delivery agent." The delivery agent's ultimate goal is to get the message into the mailbox of the recipient. Sometimes, however, the delivery agent will perform other steps like content-filtering or auto-responding, which may involve passing the message to other programs before final delivery. address-suppressed

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