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Contents:
People send lots of emails daily with many of them having no idea of the mechanism behind these services. They don’t know how the messages are sent and received, or what is the role of the servers behind it.
Even if it takes a few seconds to send an email from one device to another, there is so much we don’t know about the process. Every email we write and send passes through servers.
As Gmail is the most common email account used by people, I suggest we take a look at its services.
Gmail’s services of sending and receiving emails are categorized into:
- Google incoming email IMAP and POP: gmail.com (SSL enabled, port 995).
- Google outgoing mail SMTP: gmail.com (SSL enabled, port 465).
What is an Outgoing Email Server?
Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) is a collection of regulations or standardized protocols for sending and receiving email across the Internet. A device that manages SMTP is referred to as a mail server and preferably has a near-continuous uptime.
The SMTP mail server can both send and receive mail, while at the customer level SMTP is connected with an outgoing email server, and Post Office Protocol 3 (POP3) with incoming mail.
Email clients necessitate an address for the outgoing email server and the POP3 or incoming server together and send mail. Internet Service Providers (ISPs) give these addresses to clients when a subscription or contract is approved, and mail server addresses are also often listed on the ISPs’ site.
In some situations, both outgoing and incoming mail will be administered by a single server, such as mail.[yourisp].com; yet frequently the outgoing email server address bears a resemblance to smtp.[yourisp].com, and the incoming address, pop3.[yourisp].com.
In order to gain access to an outgoing email server, users are demanded to authenticate with a username and password associated with the client’s ISP account. This way, the ISP is protected from handling outgoing emails created by non-clients, which could rapidly stick its resources.
Besides, the server’s administration can control the activity on its outgoing email server through authentication in order to avert malicious activity such as fraud or spam.
Heimdal® Email Security
- Completely secure your infrastructure against email-delivered threats;
- Deep content scanning for malicious attachments and links;
- Block Phishing and man-in-the-email attacks;
- Complete email-based reporting for compliance & auditing requirements;
As soon as the mail is sent to an outgoing email server, the associated SMTP server scrutinizes the headers in the email to transmit the message to its destination.
Then, communication starts between itself and the next mail server along the circuit. Communication is like a set of requests and responses, which moves the mail ahead to its final destination. The mail might move through multiple transitional hosts before reaching the host that serves as the incoming mail server for the receiver.
A Web-based email service runs its mail servers which function just like an ISP’s mail servers, with the difference that users log into the website to read, write and send mail, instead of opening a personal email client from the desktop.
For example, Gmail is so popular because it makes mail reachable from any device that has an Internet connection. Besides, it stops virus-laden mail from being downloaded to your personal hard drive, as the mail comes from the website’s server instead.
For protection reasons, the email server uses a POP3 protocol, so you should make sure that your email program supports an encrypted SSL connection before initiating the setup of the incoming and outgoing servers.
Outgoing Mail Server for Gmail Configuration.
It is not complicated to set up the outgoing mail server for Gmail and use it to send and deliver emails.
First of all, you should know that the outgoing mail server for Gmail has some rigorous mailing limits to discourage unwanted actors from using it. So, you will be capable of handling around one hundred recipients at the same time and 500 messages every day, but if you do more than that, Google will restrict your account.
You should invest in a professional SMTP server in order to send newsletters or multiple emails.
In order to configure your Gmail server settings, open your email settings on Heimdal Email Security (or another email client product that you might be using) and type in these settings for Gmail:
- Server Name : smtp.gmail.com
- Port : 465 (SSL) / 587 (TLS)
- Sender Email Address: Your email address
- Test Email Address: email address to receive test emails.
- Email Type: SMTP / SMTPS
- Enable TLS: Yes / No. If you choose No, then SSL will be set as default.
- You need to enable authentication for configuring a Gmail account
- Username: Specify your email address
- Password: Specify your password
And you’re ready to go! ?
It is essential to be aware of the fact that from the outgoing email server to the multiple transfer hosts, and the ultimate incoming mail server, email is less confidential than a message sent via regular mail.
Encrypted emails are considered personal since they are put into a cipher impossible to read before being sent and being unencrypted by the receiver upon arrival.
As a Senior Content Writer and Video Content Creator specializing in cybersecurity, I leverage digital media to unravel and clarify complex cybersecurity concepts and emerging trends. With my extensive knowledge in the field, I create content that engages a diverse audience, from cybersecurity novices to experienced experts. My approach is to create a nexus of understanding, taking technical security topics and transforming them into accessible, relatable knowledge for anyone interested in strengthening their security posture.
