User guide

11.2. SERVICE ACCESS REQUIREMENTS 51
11.2 Service Access Requirements
Access to Neda messaging services is through a set of well defined interfaces. Most of
these interfaces are standard protocols. This section enumerates the specific require-
ments that a host should meet to gain access to Neda messaging services.
11.2.1 Access to POP Server
The intent of the Post Office Protocol (POP) is to allow a user’s workstation to access
mail from a mailbox server. It is expected that mail will be posted from the workstation
to the mailbox server via the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP).
Neda offers a POP Server access, so the user only needs to be responsible for
implementing a POP Client. Some examples of POP mail clients are PC Eudora and
Z-Mail.
Neda POP service users should conform to RFC-1460 [RFC-1460].
Messages should be submitted to Neda Messaging services by using SMTP, RFC-
821 [RFC-821]
11.2.2 Access to IMAP Server
IMAP2 is the ”glue” of a distributed electronic mail system consisting of a family of
client and server implementations on a wide variety of platforms, from small single-
tasking personal computing engines to complex multi-user timesharing systems. Al-
though different in many ways from the POP, IMAP2 may be thought of as a functional
superset of POP.
Like POP, IMAP2 specifies a means of accessing stored mail and not of posting
mail; this function is handled by a mail transfer protocol such as SMTP (RFC 821).
Neda offers an IMAP Server access, so the user only needs to be responsible for
implementing a IMAP Client. An example of an IMAP mail client is PINE.
Neda IMAP service users should conform to IMAP-2, RFC-1176 [RFC-1176].
Messages should be submitted to Neda Messaging services by using SMTP, RFC-
821 [RFC-821] IMAP4 will be supported in future.
11.2.3 SMTP
SMTP provides mechanisms for the transmission of mail; directly from the sending
user’s host to the receiving user’s host when the two host are connected to the same
transport service, or, when the source and destination hosts are not connected to the
same transport service, via one or more relay SMTP-servers.
SMTP comes with all UNIX and UNIX-like (e.g. Xenix) operating systems. It is
also available as a WinSock application.