SEED * Electronic Mail Introduction


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IFAS e-mail System
 
- Introduction -

Electronic mail (e-mail) is an application that allows users of the IFAS Computer Network, and the Internet, to send and receive messages. To utilize e-mail, two components are necessary; an e-mail SERVER and an e-mail CLIENT. The IFAS e-mail system supports multiple, heterogeneous clients accessing the same server.

- Server - For IFAS, the primary e-mail SERVER is the Gainesville VAX system. All IFAS faculty, staff and students are eligible for a free VAX account. Your personal VAX account provides unlimited access to the Internet which includes e-mail. The e-mail address would be:

YOUR_VAX_USERNAME@ifas.ufl.edu

The server performs the function of sending and receiving e-mail messages between other servers located on remote IFAS computers or to e-mail servers throughout the Internet world. To do this a server may utilizes various protocols to communicate. When using the Internet, the basic protocol is SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol). This protocol can transfer text-only files. Consequently, any text-based message can be sent or received to/from any other e-mail server.

To send non-text files (graphics, WordPerfect, etc...) between basic e-mail servers it is necessary to convert the file to text-only formats with conversion programs before they are sent. The most commonly used programs for converting non-text based files to/from text based files is UUENCODE and UUDECODE. These conversion programs are available for both the VAX and your PC/MAC. If you are communicating with another basic e-mail server, these conversions will need to be done manually and the person receiving the message must also have a compatible UUENCODE and UUDECODE program.

However, many (but not all) servers, including the IFAS VAX, support MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension). This enhancement to mail servers supports the automatic conversion and transfer of multimedia information types including voice, video, graphics, etc... Because not all mail servers support the MIME standard, when sending non-text messages to other e-mail servers, you must know in advance if they are MIME compliant. Sending a non-text MIME mail message to a non-MIME system will result in an unreadable mail message.

Unlike other servers, the IFAS e-mail server is completely programmable by every user allowing individuals to customize the handling of their personal incoming mail messages before being accessed by a client. The e-mail interface, DELIVER, enables simple to complex automated processing of messages received, based on any portion of the address, subject and/or mail content. The pre-processing capabilities are only limited by the functions included by the interface developer. The interface may begin as a simple function and slowly modified to include more sophisticated capabilities as the user becomes familiar with the type of messages received and determines how they are to be processed.

E-mail servers vary in the amount of capability and services available to the end user. A POP mailer is the least sophisticated, providing simple store-and-forward capability for only new mail. IMAP servers include features that allow users a greater amount of functionality for advanced mail handling. A good server does not limit the users to only one level of service. The IFAS e-mail server includes and supports all mail handling options and allows the individual user to select and advance to whatever level of capability is desired.

- Client - While the e-mail server provides the transfer and reception of mail messages between server hosts, the e-mail client is the program used to read and respond to e-mail messages provided by the server. The server determines which client programs can be used based on the communications protocols it supports.

Do not confuse the difference between the VAXmail SERVER and the VAXmail CLIENT. The VAXmail server supports ALL e-mail clients. ICON fully supports the VAXmail server because of its full featured capabilities. The VAXmail client, on the other hand, is only one of many e-mail clients that work with the VAXmail server. ICON does not, at this time, endorse any specific e-mail client (see the statement of direction below).

The IFAS VAX e-mail server supports ALL major industry e-mail protocol standards, thus allowing the user to select whichever client program they want to use. This allows the user to easily switch among different e-mail programs to suit their specific needs or situations. For example, if traveling to different universities or countries without your personal computer, it would be possible to use alternate e-mail clients to read your VAX e-mail. Also, any communications software (i.e., ProComm, TELNET, etc...) that provides terminal access to the VAX can be used for e-mail.

The e-mail CLIENT can be various applications the end user may wish to use. These applications include, but are not limited to:

VAX - Internet connection is NOT require
- MAIL - (VAXmail), replaced by EMAIL
- EMAIL - (MAIL), Enhanced VAXmail
- VMAIL - Visual VAXmail
- PINE - Menu driven VAXmail
PC/MAC - Internet connection is require
- Eudora - Windows driven VAXmail (uses POP)
- Pegasus - Windows driven VAXmail (uses POP)
- PC-PINE - Menu driven VAXmail (uses IMAP)
- MS Outlook - Windows driven VAXmail (uses POP or IMAP)
- MS Explorer - Windows driven VAXmail (uses POP or IMAP)
- Netscape - Windows driven VAXmail (uses POP or IMAP)

- Protocols - Notice that every PC/MAC based client utilizes a specific communications protocol to talk with the e-mail server. ICON currently supports the following standards-based client-server e-mail protocols:

POP - Post Office Protocol
IMAP - Internet Message Access Protocol

All these protocols are communications standards supported throughout the industry that ensure interoperability. ICON supports standards-based, vendor-independent network protocols because they provide the best way to interoperate with the varied computing environments of our users.

- IFAS Statement of Direction = IMAP -

ICON will continue supporting interactive-login access to e-mail using all the VAX programs listed above. Additionally, ICON will continue to support the existing as well as the emerging standards-based e-mail protocols whenever possible, including new versions of existing protocols, plus related protocols such as LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol).

ICON recommends using IMAP instead of POP for client-server access. IMAP has several advantages, particularly, access to folders other than the inbox on the mail server. However, customers may prefer to use a POP client (Eudora or Pegasus) for now and switch to an IMAP client at a later date.