Hi Everyone, I have a very newbie question, I know SMTP relay is used for sending your emails through a third party smtp server, my question is now I can send email, how can I receive emails? I mean who will do the POP3 job for me? Thanks,

An SMTP relay means an SMTP instance (server) that allows you to send email through it that are not destined for local recipients. This means If I wanted to send you an email and I use any SMTP server that is not YOUR smtp server,I am in effect relaying. this is different than an open relay, which is an smtp server that does not require authentication.As you pointed out, SMTP is just the "send" part of the email equation. To receive mail, someone first has to "send" you something :)Before they send you something, you have to define who "you" are. this means get a domain name. lets say you wanted dana@dana07.comto be your email address. you would have to go to an internet registrar like network solutions or godaddy and request this name. once you get a domain name, you have to create DNS records for dana07.com so that other servers on the internet know what SMTP server is responsible for accepting dana07.com email. This DNS record is called an MX record. You specify within the MX records the name(s) of your smtp server.now that your domain is defined and the mx records tell all of us where your mail is supposed to go, you can configure your email client to retrieve your email from this server (which of course you would have to setup).depending on the email server you use, there may be several ways to retreive your mail, such as pop, imap mapi, http, etc. Mike Crowley A+, Network+, Security+, MCT, MCSE, MCTS, MCITP: Enterprise Administrator / Messaging Administrator

I should have said:the short answer is, you need to install email server software for this function. Exchange is an example of this software and there are many others:http://www.google.com/search?q=email+server+software&rls=com.microsoft:en-us&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&startIndex=&startPage=1 Mike Crowley A+, Network+, Security+, MCT, MCSE, MCTS, MCITP: Enterprise Administrator / Messaging Administrator

Thanks Mike.. I got it now :) have a nice day. regards, Dana