On Mon, Apr 29, 2013 at 1:29 PM, Ken Dibble <[email protected]> wrote:
> For those of you who administer email servers that communicate with the > internet: > > Is it standard SMTP procedure to send a test email to a sender's address > to verify that the address is valid? > No, this is the first time I've heard of that. Wikipedia describes callback validation [1] but this shouldn't actually result in an email saved. > This, in my opinion, is an unfair and poor way to verify the sender's > address. > Agreed. > Would this still occur with IMAP? As I understand it, IMAP is a retrieval > protocol, not a send protocol. But if an ISP offers IMAP, which, as I > understand it, by default leaves messages on the server, then surely the > ISP must anticipate that many mailboxes will be full and would have to use > some other sender verification strategy. > IMAP and POP are a completely different technology, that for retrieving and storing email. not sending it. They don't have to even be on the same box(es) as the SMTP service. So, no IMAP would not make a difference. I am not asking for a referral to some other email service provider. > Perhaps you should be. The problem is your service provider is using an arcane methodology and, as most service providers are supplying gigabytes for free as part of their service, perhaps it's time you reconsidered your mail system design. At the very least, a stern discussion with them to see if they can prevent their self-caused outages. > I am trying to understand what the options are for sender verify and why > people use them. > As explained in the Wikipedia article, they're trying to verify that mail actually came from a real mailbox and not a made up fake spam one. However, I have a hard time understanding how this is filling up a mailbox until the storage capacity is pitifully low. POP is not designed to retain mail on the server. The "retain for x days" functionality was an after-thought and the implications not fully understood. It would probably make more sense to retain email in-house or with another server. You could put your own mail server in between the users and the internet, and retain mail there, but that may just be shifting the problem. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Callback_verification -- Ted Roche Ted Roche & Associates, LLC http://www.tedroche.com --- StripMime Report -- processed MIME parts --- multipart/alternative text/plain (text body -- kept) text/html --- _______________________________________________ Post Messages to: [email protected] Subscription Maintenance: http://mail.leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profox OT-free version of this list: http://mail.leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profoxtech Searchable Archive: http://leafe.com/archives/search/profox This message: http://leafe.com/archives/byMID/profox/CACW6n4tQ2hivbLgnc2m745Xp1fLpT_E79P=t+svvekbpi08...@mail.gmail.com ** All postings, unless explicitly stated otherwise, are the opinions of the author, and do not constitute legal or medical advice. This statement is added to the messages for those lawyers who are too stupid to see the obvious.
