Glossary
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Glossary

access domain: This security measure limits access to certain Messaging Server operations from within a specified domain. For example, an access domain can be used to limit where mail for an account can be collected.
account: All information relating to sorting incoming messages is held in accounts. Accounts specify which addresses the Messaging Server should accept messages for and what it should do with those messages once they are accepted. Every user who gets messages through the Messaging Server has an account.
address: The information in an email message that determines where and how the message must be sent. Addresses are found both on message headers and on message envelopes.
addressing protocol: The addressing rules that make email possible. SMTP is the most widely used protocol on the Internet. Other protocols include X.400 and UUCP.
alternate address: A secondary address for an account, generally a variation on the primary address. In some cases it is convenient to have more than one address for a single account.
AutoReply utility: This Messaging Server feature automatically responds to messages sent to accounts with the AutoReply feature activated. Every account in the Messaging Server can be configured to automatically reply to incoming messages. There are three AutoReply modes available: reply, echo, and vacation. Reply mode sends back an automatic reply to every message sent to a specific address. Echo mode does the same thing but also includes the text of the original incoming message. Vacation mode, which is the only mode users can set up on their own, is used to let senders know that the mail recipient is unavailable.
body: Email messages consist of an envelope, a header, and a body. Although headers and envelopes must follow a standard format, the body of the message has a content determined by the sender--the body can contain text, graphics, or even multimedia.
daemon program: Unix programs that run in the background, independent of a terminal, and perform a function whenever necessary. Daemons usually run with root privileges and perform very specialized functions. Common examples of daemon programs are mail handlers, license servers, and print daemons.
dispatcher: This is the daemon or service component of the Messaging Server. The dispatcher initiates all the Messaging Server processes and monitors ports for incoming messages and finger queries.
Domain Name Service (DNS): The DNS is the addressing protocol that allows the Internet network's computers to find each other. Email addresses are based on DNS addresses. Every computer (and user) in a network using the DNS has a unique address. You need DNS to run your mail system. You can provide this service internally by running a DNS server, or your Internet provider can supply this service to you as part of your Internet connection.
echo: Like the reply setting of the AutoReply feature, echo sends a copy of the AutoReply message specified for an account to anyone who contacts that account. The original message is sent along with the reply message.
envelopes: Email messages are stored in electronic "envelopes" while they are being moved from place to place by various email programs. Envelopes are used only by programs; users see only the header and body of a message.
error handler: This module handles all the Messaging Server errors. It issues error messages and processes error action forms after the postmaster fills them out.
error message: The Messaging Server generates error messages in a number of situations, notably when it gets an email message that it can't handle. One type of error message, the Error-Handler Action form, requires you to resolve the error. This form contains fields that you must fill out and return to the error handler. Others error messages, called notification errors, are for informational purposes only.
field: Forms consist of fields. Fields are parameters that you can (and sometimes must) specify to configure the Messaging Server. Usually, fields are multiple choice, with the options listed adjacent to the field or described nearby (as in email forms) or selectable from a scrolling menu or buttons (as in web forms). The fields in forms correspond to fields in the account and configuration databases.
finger service: A rudimentary directory service you can use to "finger" an email address. The Messaging Server answers finger queries with any information placed in the Finger Information field. Server administrators can make all sorts of information available this way. Such information typically includes phone numbers and street addresses.
firewall: An Internet firewall provides security for a site by restricting or preventing access to internal machines by outside computers. A typical firewall is safe from hostile Internet users because it allows no direct connections to internal machines and relies on proxy servers or other trusted programs to carry communication across the wall.
form: Forms are specialized web documents used to configure and administer the Messaging Server. Forms are composed of fields, where specific instructions to the Messaging Server are entered. Although most forms are only for the system and server administrators, users can use the Information form to change certain aspects of their accounts.
Greeting form: The Greeting form is usually sent to users when an account is created for them. This form acts as confirmation of the new account and verification of its contents. The Greeting form also instructs users on how to change information related to their mail account. During installation, system administrators have the option of deciding whether to send Greeting forms to users.
header: The portion of an email message that precedes the body of the message. Headers contain information useful to email programs and users trying to make sense of the message: they tell whom the message is for, who sent it, when it was sent, and what it is about. Headers must be written strictly according to the SMTP protocol so that email programs can read them.
hostname hiding: The practice of having domain-based email addresses that don't contain the name of a particular host.
hub, mail: A single host that acts as a hub for the system. When two networks are separated by a firewall, for example, the firewall computer often acts as a mail hub.
IMAP4: Internet Message Access Protocol Version 4 (IMAP4) allows users to be disconnected from the main messaging system and still be able to process their mail. The IMAP specification allows for administrative control for these disconnected users and for the resynchronization of the users' message store once they reconnect to the messaging system.
intermittently connected site: A site that doesn't have a continuous connection to the Internet, yet uses
TCP/IP for communication. These sites are usually "connected" only a few hours per day.
LDAP: Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) is a simplification of the X.500 Directory Access Protocol (DAP) that allows a single point of user and group account management across Netscape SuiteSpot servers.
mail client: Mail clients are the programs that help users send and receive email. This is the part of the various networks and mail programs that users have the most contact with. Mail clients create and submit messages for delivery, check for new incoming mail, and accept and organize incoming mail.
mail exchange (MX) record: A list of hosts that accept mail for a domain and tell how to contact a domain. MX records are required to get mail to a disconnected host or to a system that is down, as well as to "distribute load" (give several hosts the same preference value). MX records are part of the DNS.
mail queue: For various reasons beyond its control, the Messaging Server is sometimes unable to deliver messages immediately and must wait before attempting delivery again. During this wait, undelivered messages are stored in the mail queue.
mailbox directory: Messages stored for POP3 or IMAP4 delivery are held in the mailbox directory.
message: The fundamental unit of email, a message consists of a header and a body and is often contained in an envelope while it is in transit from the sender to the recipient.
message transfer agent (MTA): Programs, such as the Messaging Server, that exchange email with other MTAs and accept and deliver messages to mail clients.
MIME (Multi-purpose Internet Mail Extension): Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension (MIME) is a protocol you can use to include multimedia in email messages by appending the multimedia file in the message. Because not all mail clients support MIME, you should make sure that the message recipient has a MIME-enabled mail client.
MTA: See message transfer agent.
MX records: See mail exchange record.
password: One building block in the security features of the Messaging Server. Passwords are required to process forms and to retrieve messages through POP3.
POP3: The Post Office Protocol Version 3 (POP3) delivery method doesn't require the message transfer agent to have access to the user's mailbox directory. This is an advantage in a networked environment, where often the mail client and the message transfer agent are on different computers.
postmaster: By convention, an account used to communicate with the person (or people) responsible for maintaining a Messaging Server.
reply (AutoReply feature): This AutoReply feature automatically replies to anyone who sends a message to an account with the reply feature activated. The reply message can be anything from a few words to bulky multimedia attachments.
reply (mail client feature): Most mail clients have a reply feature that lets you automatically return a message to its sender along with any modifications you'd like to make. Use this feature to return email forms to the Messaging Server.
sendmail: This is currently the most common MTA used on Unix machines. In most applications, the Messaging Server can be used as a dropin replacement for sendmail.
SMTP: Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) is the email protocol most commonly used by the Internet. It is implemented by the Messaging Server SMTP channel.
SMTP channel alias: SMTP channel aliases are designed to handle incoming messages that are forwarded to another mail transfer agent located on another address (for example, for an address that has no local delivery). SMTP channel aliases are specific to the SMTP channel. Whenever a message enters the Messaging Server destined for one of the listed SMTP channel aliases, the address is immediately rewritten and the message delivered to the new address at a remote host.
SMTP Mail Routing table: Provides a way to redirect mail based on the domain to which it is being sent. Each entry in the SMTP Mail Routing table consists of a pattern and a domain. Before sending a message, the destination domain is compared to the patterns in the table. If a match is found, the destination host is replaced by the domain corresponding to the pattern that matched.
SNMP: Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) is a network protocol that allows administrators to monitor server processes remotely on SNMP-compatible servers through the use of SNMP station software.
TCP/IP: TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) is the protocol suite that underlies much Internet activity, such as the SMTP protocol.
user: Short for computer user. In this manual, this word is also used to distinguish persons using the Messaging Server system (users) from the postmaster and system administrator.
UUCP (Unix to Unix Copy Protocol): An older Unix email addressing protocol still employed in some legacy mail systems.
vacation: You can use this AutoReply feature to tell people that you'll be away from your email for a while. It automatically sends everyone who contacts you one (and only one) message.

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