E-mail Overview

What is e-mail?

An e-mail is an electronic message that is transferred from an account on one computer (or other electronic device) to another. Unlike "instant messaging" which identifies the "presence" or availability of the other party, and establishes a real-time connection between the sender and receiver, e-mail messages are released by the sender to a mail server, which holds the message until it is able to look up the address of the recipient account and send it to the recipient's mail server (if there is a direction connection between the two servers) or forwards it along to another mail server in route toward the recipient's e-mail server.

SFSU provides all staff, faculty, and students with an SF State e-mail account. SF State e-mail addresses are in the form "account@sfsu.edu" (e.g., jdoe@sfsu.edu).

How are e-mails sent at SFSU?

An e-mail starts with an e-mail program such as Outlook, Lotus Notes or Thunderbird (A & B in diagram). When the message is sent, the e-mail travels to SF State's e-mail servers (C) using SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol). The e-mail server puts a time stamp line in the header of the e-mail which traces the name of the server receiving the message and the date and time it was received.

If the e-mail is addressed to an account which does not have an sfsu.edu address, the e-mail server forwards the message to the SFSU Gateway (D) where it is filtered for potential viruses and spam. The e-mail then leaves the SF State domain and travels out to non-SF State servers on the Internet (E) until it is eventually forwarded to the e-mail server of the addressee.

When an e-mail server receives an e-mail message addressed to an account within its domain (e.g., an @sfsu.edu address for SF State's e-mail servers) it sorts the message into the appropriate e-mail account mailbox. An e-mail program is used to read and/or retrieve e-mail from the server using POP (Post Office Protocol 3) or the recommended IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) (F & G). For more information on the differences between these two protocols see POP vs. IMAP.

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Last Modified: 4 April 2008
doit@sfsu.edu