POP3 to SMTP

What is POP3 and SMTP

POP3 is a protocol or process to pull email from an email server.  SMTP is a protocol or process for sending email to an email server.  POP3 and SMTP are very different, POP3 pulls email and SMTP sends email.

Why You Need a POP3 Downloader

IGetMail is used to bridge POP3 servers to your local, SMTP email server.

When you use a hosting company to host your domain, all email sent to your domain will go to the hosting company.  Your incoming email stops at the hosting company; it sits and waits for you to take an action.  And when you create free email accounts at GMail or Yahoo, email addressed to these accounts sit on the GMail and Yahoo email servers, until you choose to download the email.  Web hosting and email hosting companies provide access to your email through POP3 but the it is your responsibility to download POP3 email or import POP3 email to your local Exchange Server.

Many companies setup an Exchange server internally to handle their internal email and outbound email.  However most companies do not host their websites on an internal company computer.  As a result, your email goes to the web hosting company and not your internal Exchange Server.

Exchange supports SMTP which allows email to be sent to Exchange; but Exchange will not go looking for your email.  And, Exchange will not sort email; it follows the SMTP specification which calls for all email to be presorted before it is delivered to your Exchange Server.

So the bottom line is: When people send you email and your email is sitting at remote POP3 servers on the Internet and you have an internal Exchange Server, you need a POP3 to SMTP email downloader to perform the task of forwarding POP3 email or importing POP3 email from the remote servers to your local Exchange Server.  When you need a POP3 to SMTP email downloader, you need IGetMail.

How IGetMail Works

IGetMail is a small software utility that you can install on your local Exchange Server to automatically download POP3 email from remote servers - as fast as every 20 seconds!  No more waiting for email!

First you will need to setup an internal Exchange Server and you will also need at least one account at a Internet hosting company.  If you need help setting up Exchange Server, see our how-to-setup Exchange instructions.

Then download IGetMail and install it on your Exchange Server.  IGetMail does not alter your Exchange Server, it will not modify Exchange in any way.  IGetMail uses SMTP to send email to Exchange.

Once you have IGetMail installed, you provide IGetMail with information about each of your POP3 email accounts.  For each of your accounts, you will specify the URL to the remote server hosting your email, your account name and its password.  Then you will tell IGetMail if you are using catch-all accounts, which hold email for 2 or more users or if you are using the account for just one user.  And finally you can choose to take advantage of additional options, such as the ability to leave emails at the POP3 server.

Now you are ready to tell IGetMail how to access your SMTP / Exchange Server.

IGetMail will periodically log into each of your remote POP3 accounts and check for email.  It will then download any new messages and then deliver the email to Exchange using SMTP.   This process is completely automated such that you will receive all of your email in a timely manner without needing to access the remote POP3 servers by hand.

Security

IGetMail supports SSL/TLS so that it can securely access your remote email.  This is a requirement of GMail and most POP3 email server providers.

The other security aspect of IGetMail is you can hide your Exchange server behind your firewall.  IGetMail uses an outbound only connection to the Internet.  As a result, you can block all inbound access at your firewall.  When you use an internal Exchange Server that is not hosting your domain, you can cut off inbound access to the Exchange Server.  By blocking POP3 and SMTP inbound at your firewall any hackers that scan your network are blocked and not able to access your Exchange Server.  Since IGetMail is local, it can connect to the Exchange Server using SMTP but anyone on the Internet is blocked.

Many IGetMail users find it convenient to configure their firewall / router to block all inbound connections and allow outbound.  This allows POP3 and SMTP outbound, which is needed for IGetMail to pull POP3 email.  And you need to allow SMTP outbound so that Exchange can send your email to the Internet.  When you block all inbound connections, this protects your Exchange server from intruders on the Internet.