Delete

Hesiod

IMAP

Incoming Mail Server

MIME

Outgoing Mail Server

POP

Post Office/Email Quota

Purge

SMTP

Split Mailbox
  

Email at MIT

Email Glossary

Delete

When you delete email it is not immediately erased from the mail server or your local computer. Instead, it is marked for removal. Email marked for removal that has not been purged can be recovered. Deleted email stored on the mail server continues to count towards your until you purge it.

Hesiod

A name service that keeps track of information (e.g., post office servers, printers, and machines) in a distributed network environment such as MITnet. Hesiod keeps track of each registered MIT email user's post office server where his/her email account resides. When configuring an email program that supports the use of hesiod (e.g., Eudora) it's advantageous to specify "hesiod" as your incoming mail server. This eliminates problems associated with your email account being moved to another post office server. Email accounts are moved from one server to another from time to time to redistribute the load.

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IMAP

IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol), the recommended method for accessing email, is a client-server approach to email in which email is kept on the server. When you work with email, your email program (the client) connects to the post office server to access your email. Since your email stays on the server, you can easily access it from multiple workstations and programs just like you can access your voice mail messages from any phone.

For more information about IMAP, including supported programs, see Guide to IMAP at MIT.

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Incoming Mail Server (Post Office Server)

The server on which messages sent to your email address reside. MIT uses several incoming mail servers, rather than one, to better handle the load of the 27,000+ email accounts at MIT. Each incoming mail server on which @mit.edu email accounts are stored are named poxx.mit.edu, where xx is a two-digit number, e.g., po12.mit.edu or po14.mit.edu. Two email protocols are used on these servers, IMAP and POP.

You can Find Out the Name of Your Post Office Server, but the supported method for specifying your server to your mail client is to use hesiod as it keeps track of changes for you.

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MIME

MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) is an encoding method designed for exchanging binary files over the Internet (particularly via email messages) in a standardized, platform-independent form using a coding scheme called base64. A MIME-encoded message can contain several parts, each of which can be a different type of file: ASCII text, pictures, video, sound, or any other type of binary data.

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Outgoing Mail Server

The server that routes email messages to incoming servers on the Internet. Outgoing mail servers are also referred to as SMTP servers. The outgoing mail server at MIT is named outgoing.mit.edu and secure connections are recommended.

For more information, see SMTP Authentication: Secure Outbound Email at MIT.

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POP

POP (Post Office Protocol) was the recommended method for accessing your mail before IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol). POP is a basic store and forward mail handling system. When you connect to the mail server, your mail is downloaded to your machine (or home directory on Athena) and deleted from the server. It does not support reading mail from multiple locations or have the modern message handling features of IMAP.

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Post Office/Email Quota

Each account has a 1 GB disk quota on the post office server. You should check your post office quota regularly (requires certificates) and archive old mail to keep yourself below quota. See Managing your Email Quota for more information.

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Purge

Purging email is when the messages you have marked for removal by the delete command are erased from the server or your local computer drive. Once email is purged it cannot be recovered. Be sure you have archived or do not need any messages marked for deletion before you issue the purge command.

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SMTP

SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) is a standard set of rules that define an email message format, and the message transfer agent (MTA), which stores and forwards email. SMTP was originally designed for only ASCII text, but MIME and other encoding methods have been added which allow other types of files, such as graphic images, to be attached and sent with email messages. SMTP servers route email messages throughout the Internet to incoming mail servers, such as POP or IMAP, which provide message stores for incoming mail. SMTP servers are also referred to as outgoing mail servers.

The SMTP server at MIT is called outgoing.mit.edu.

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Split Mailbox

A method of forwarding your @mit.edu email to another email account while having a copy still sent to your MIT (Athena) account.

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