Email servers, also called Mail Transfer Agents (MTAs), today do much of the heavy lifting required to transport email from sender to recipient, ideally without the sender or recipient being particularly aware of them. They store (queue) incoming email, then forward it to user's mailboxes, sometimes via other email servers, while often trying to avoid accepting or sending out spam or viruses. They also allow users to read email waiting for them in their mailboxes. qmail is a popular email server for Unix-based systems; "Qmail Quickstarter: Install, Set Up, and Run your own Email Server" introduces the reader to qmail as an email-delivery architecture that provides the building blocks for an email server.
"Qmail Quickstarter" is a good book for anyone wanting to come up to speed on qmail, whether as their email server of choice or as a means to better choose among the many email servers available. I give this book a 7 out of 10.
Copyright (C) 2007 James Craig Burley, Software Craftsperson
Last modified on 2007-07-09.