| RackMail offers either POP3 or IMAP access to your email via MS Outlook or a Phone.
IMAP and POP are different protocols for handling e-mail. Each has its own unique function and purpose. POP is basically a flow through entity—it just passes on the information to you at your e-mail program. IMAP on the other hand, is interactive with your e-mail program.
POP
POP is a simple process. When the POP e-mail server receives e-mail it stores it on the server until you to request it. By opening your email program (e.g., Outlook) and pressing the “Send” or “Receive” button you request the e-mail from the server . The e-mail program in essence asks the server if there is any mail waiting. If there is, it tells the server to send it to you.
When the POP server receives your request for mail, it sends the entire message to your e-mail program. Once you receive the email, the message is no longer stored on the server unless you specifically tell it to keep a copy.
IMAP
IMAP allows you to download e-mails from the server to your e-mail program the same as POP does. However, when you request your e-mail from the server it sends a copy rather than sending the entire e-mail. It keeps a copy of the e-mail on the server while simultaneously keeping a copy on your computer.
You may be wondering what happens if you have certain messages on your local computer and IMAP has different messages on the IMAP mail server? IMAP has built in intelligence to handle this task. When you connect the IMAP mail server with your local computer, it senses that there are differences between the local computer and the mail server. It then synchronizes both so that they have the same information. For example, if you delete messages, compose more and have sent others, this information will be synced up with the IMAP server so that the IMAP server will delete the copies of the messages that were deleted. By the time you log off the IMAP server you have two complete copies of all of the e-mail tasks performed: one on the IMAP server and one on your local computer.
- Best when you will be accessing your email from multiple locations.
- Allows you to create portable folders. These folders will appear in each email client you use to access your account. Your account will look the same at work, at home, and at your friend's house.
- Because your email messages are stored on the server, you must monitor your mailbox size and delete messages to avoid exceeding your mailbox size.
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