SMTP is commonly used for the following purposes:
- Server to server communications, in which SMTP is the mail protocol that runs between the servers
- In some clients, POP3 or IMAP4 are configured for incoming messages (messages from the server to the client), while SMTP is configured for outgoing messages (messages from the client to the server)
The normal behavior of SMTP communication is as follows:
- The local email client resolves the IP address of the configured SMTP server address.
- This triggers a TCP connection to port number 25 if SSL/TLS is not enabled. If SSL/TLS is enabled, a TCP connection is established over port 465.
- It exchanges SMTP messages to authenticate with the server. The client sends AUTH LOGIN to ...