Gatorlink Email Definitions
IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol)
"IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol, formerly known as the Interactive Mail Access Protocol) is a protocol for email clients to retrieve email messages from, and work with the mailboxes on, a mail server. IMAP is the protocol that IMAP clients use to communicate with the servers. SMTP is the protocol used to transport mail to an IMAP server.
IMAP4, the latest version, is similar to POP3 but offers additional and more complex features. For example, the IMAP4 protocol leaves your email messages on the server rather than downloading them to your computer. If you wish to remove your messages from the server, you must use your mail client to generate local folders, copy messages to your local hard drive, and then delete and expunge the messages from the server." - kb.indiana.edu
POP3 (Post Office Protocol)
"POP3 (Post Office Protocol 3) is the most recent version of a standard protocol for receiving e-mail. POP3 is a client/server protocol in which e-mail is received and held for you by your Internet server. Periodically, you (or your client e-mail receiver) check your mail-box on the server and download any mail, probably using POP3. This standard protocol is built into most popular e-mail products, such as Eudora and Outlook Express. It's also built into the Netscape and Microsoft Internet Explorer browsers.
POP3 is designed to delete mail on the server as soon as the user has downloaded it. However, some implementations allow users or an administrator to specify that mail be saved for some period of time. POP can be thought of as a "store-and-forward" service." - searchexchange.techtarget.com
SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol)
"Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) is the de facto standard for electronic mail transport across the Internet. When you send an email message, SMTP packages your message in a kind of envelope and relays it to its destination. Multiple servers are often involved in the transport of the message, and as it passes through them, each one time-stamps and tags it. Thus, when the message arrives, the recipient can get an idea of where it's been, and when it was sent. SMTP also handles error messages, sending notifications to senders when there is difficulty delivering their mail." - kb.indiana.edu
