The common perception is that email messages seem to arrive almost as soon as they are sent.  Messages often appear to be delivered “instantaneously”. So, when a message is occasionally delayed, it seems like something must be wrong.  Sometimes there is a problem.  Sometimes the delay is the result of normal email flow.

If the messages never show up at all … that is a different situation altogether.  See “Where’s the Email? The Case of the Missing or Disappearing Email“ for ideas on diagnosis and understanding of that.

The multi-server delivery path

When an email message is sent, it is given to an email server for processing and delivery.   That email server may forward it on to another email server, and so on, until it ultimately arrives in the recipient’s mail box.

Read the rest of this post »

LuxSci has had various people ask if we support sending outbound email via "IMAP" and we have heard people say that they send a message via their "IMAP account".  What does this mean?  There is actually something behind this.

Read the rest of this post »