What is MTA ?

What is MTA ?
hello friends,

What is the full form of MTA in the internet world ? and what does MTA mean ? Does anybody have the information about the same ? please give your ideas and suggestions.....

#2
15-04-2009

johnson22
Member

Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 2,112
Re: What is MTA ?
In the Internet world,MTA stands for Mail Transfer Agent

Also called as Mail Transport Agent or Message Transfer Agent.

#3
15-04-2009

Techguru01
Member

Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 2,116
Re: What is MTA ?
A mail transfer agent (MTA) is a computer program or software agent that transfers electronic mail messages from one computer to another.

The term mail server is also used to mean a computer acting as an MTA that is running the appropriate software. The term mail exchanger (MX), in the context of the Domain Name System formally refers to an IP address assigned to a device hosting a mail server, and by extension also indicates the server itself.

An MTA receives mail from another MTA (relaying) or from a mail user agent (MUA). The MTA works behind the scenes, while the user usually interacts with the MUA. Every time an MTA receives an e-mail, it will add a "Received:" trace header field to the top of the message. In this way, there is a record of which MTAs handled the e-mail and in which order. Upon final delivery, the "Return-Path:" header will also be added to record the return path.

The delivery of e-mail to a user's mailbox typically takes place via a mail delivery agent (MDA); many MTAs have basic MDA functionality built in, but a dedicated MDA like procmail can provide more sophisticated functionality

#4
15-04-2009

Trio
Member

Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 2,752
Re: What is MTA ?
A mail server (also known as a mail transfer agent or MTA, a mail transport agent, a mail router or an Internet mailer) is an application that receives incoming e-mail from local users (people within the same domain) and remote senders and forwards outgoing e-mail for delivery. A computer dedicated to running such applications is also called a mail server. Microsoft Exchange, qmail, Exim and sendmail are among the more common mail server programs.

The mail server works in conjunction with other programs to make up what is sometimes referred to as a messaging system. A messaging system includes all the applications necessary to keep e-mail moving as it should. When you send an e-mail message, your e-mail program, such as Outlook or Eudora, forwards the message to your mail server, which in turn forwards it either to another mail server or to a holding area on the same server called a message store to be forwarded later. As a rule, the system uses SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) or ESMTP (extended SMTP) for sending e-mail, and either POP3 (Post Office Protocol 3) or IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) for receiving e-mail.