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I am going to set up my own mail server using open source MTA - Postfix.

In general I understand how everything works, but I still cannot find out some things. Here is diagram I am using for understanding all this stuff

enter image description here

  1. MTA (Postifx in this case) is just utility/daemon that understands SMTP protocol

  2. As I can guess mail is stored on the MDA. Is postfix-maildrop software that is responsible for storing all data on the server ?(Incoming, outgoing, folders) ? And anytime client can request this info using IMAP/POP3 protocol ?

My main question is where all mail is stored.

Consider following example.

For instance I am using GoDaddy mail servers. It has settings for SMTP server and for IMAP server.

Whenever I enter this settings in MUA Outlook I get all mail that was received and sent from my account.

So where this mail is stored ? Is it stored on GoDaddy server specified in IMAP settings ? Or it is stored somewhere else ?

Please help to understand letter flow through all this infrastructure. And how can I setup my local server that will behave exactly the same as GoDaddy's mail server ?

Thanks

CROSP
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1 Answers1

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IMAP stores mail on the server that it's configured to use (could be anything, like the IMAP server itself or an NFS server) or at least that's the intention.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Message_Access_Protocol

To setup something like a mail provider has:

Setup DNS with MX entries for your domain pointing to your SMTP server(s). You need to receive mail via SMTP (postfix/exim/etc...) and have the smtp service send it to your IMAP (cyrus/courier/dovecot/etc...) service. They can be on the same server, or often on different servers. Outgoing mail goes through an SMTP server. It's all very flexible in my experience.

Zimbra is an all in one solution that by default likes everything all on one server (incoming and outgoing smtp, imap, etc...) and includes other optional stuff like spam scanning, webmail, calendar, web management, etc...

Ryan Babchishin
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  • Thanks for answer, how can I set up my own server that will be the same as GoDaddy ? – CROSP Oct 16 '16 at 18:57
  • @CROSP Get an IMAP server (software), like Cyrus or something more fancy like Zimbra. – Ryan Babchishin Oct 16 '16 at 18:58
  • Devocot is also the IMAP server that can be used ? Could you also explain how mail letter flows and when it is stored on IMAP server and so on (whole letter flow) – CROSP Oct 16 '16 at 19:01
  • @CROSP Yup and Courier too. Lots of choices out there. – Ryan Babchishin Oct 16 '16 at 19:03
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    @CROSP You need to receive mail via SMTP (postfix/exim/etc...) and have the smtp service send it to your IMAP (cyrus/courier/dovcot/etc...) service. They can be on the same server, or different servers. It's all very flexible. Zimbra is an all in one solution that by default likes everything all on one server and includes other stuff like spam scanning, webmail, calendar, etc... – Ryan Babchishin Oct 16 '16 at 19:04
  • thx, could you add all these comment as an answer, it would be helpful for others, and I will mark as an answer – CROSP Oct 16 '16 at 19:13
  • @CROSP How's that for an answer? – Ryan Babchishin Oct 16 '16 at 20:14