A couple of important facts show up in the figure. POP3 is used only to pull the e-mail from the server. Also, note that the e-mail servers are labeled as SMTP server and POP3 server. So far, I have simply referred to an e-mail server generically. In practice, to perform SMTP, you need server software that understands SMTP, and that software is cleverly called SMTP server software. So, for all this to work, the servers need to have SMTP server software running. Similarly, to allow a client to retrieve mail, the server hardware must be running POP3 server software in addition to the SMTP server software. In effect, a single computer needs to run both servers.
The SMTP server and the POP3 server on the same computer store and retrieve e-mails from the same message storage location. For instance, in Figure 8-8, the Fredsco e-mail server received an e-mail using the SMTP server, storing it on the disk drive. Later, when the person using the sales@fredsco.com account checked his e-mail using POP3, the POP3 server, on that same computer, retrieved the e-mail, forwarding it to the client.
Well, at this point, you probably know more than you ever wanted to know about e-mail! Just like with the postal service, as a user, all you need to know is that you send the mail, and it gets there. Now that you are armed with a few more details, you can certainly have a more intelligent conversation about e-mail.
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