How does SMTP store and forward work?

How does SMTP store and forward work?
How many email addresses do I get?
Will Microsoft Exchange 5.x work with this system?
I am not receiving any email and when I use the finger command to your server I get "connection refused".
My ISP does not allow me to send emai from my domain through their servers. Do you offer a mail relay?
I have store and forward but I am not receiving any email.
People have tried to send me email but they are getting a bounce message. Where is the problem?
On my mail server I can send email using DNS, what addresses do I use?
Do I need a static IP address to use this service?

1. How does SMTP store and forward work?

Most email on the Internet is delivered using SMTP (the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol). This is a one-way protocol - e-mail is "sent" via SMTP, you don't "collect" email via SMTP. This presents a problem for mail servers that are not connected to the Internet 24 hours a day - your server can only receive email when it is connected to the Internet, however people may try to send you email at any time.

NetBenefit's Store & Forward servers address this problem in a simple manner - they are set up to store all emails for your domain, and will only attempt to deliver them to your mail server when instructed to do so. The store of e-mail waiting for delivery is traditionally known as a "mail queue".

Your server will be configured to periodically connect to the Internet (say, once an hour). Once connected, it will make a "finger" connection to the Store & Forward server. The finger connection contains the domain name you own, and a password that allows our server to authenticate you. Your finger command was sent to you in your email confirmation. Once our server receives the finger command, it will initiate the delivery of e-mail to your server. Because we use the address of the incoming finger connection, it is possible to use this service even if your IP address changes each time you dial up to the Internet. This means we don't require you to have a static IP address - you can connect to the Internet using any Internet Service Provider.

The actual e-mail delivery happens via SMTP. Your server will get all of the e-mail for your domain - we only look at the part of the e-mail address following the "@" sign. It is the responsibility of your mail server to inspect the part before "@" sign and deliver the e-mail to the correct local recipients.
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2. How many email addresses do I get?

All local user email addresses are specified on your mail server. Therefore, you can have as many addresses as you require. NetBenefit will store and forward all email addressed to your domain to your mail server. Your server will get all of the e-mail for your domain - we only look at the part of the e-mail address following the "@" sign. It is the responsibility of your mail server to inspect the part before "@" sign and deliver the e-mail to the correct local recipients.

Whilst there are no limitations to the amount of email addresses you are able to use, there are bandwidth quotas determined by the package you purchase. Excess usage will incur additional charges.
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3. Will Microsoft Exchange 5.x work with this system?

Yes, Microsoft Exchange 5.x supports Store & Forward email as this allows you to set-up a 'Custom Command'.
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4. I am not receiving any email and when I use the finger command to your server I get 'connection refused'.

This means that the NetBenefit Store and Forward is attempting to connect to your mail server but your server is not accepting incoming SMTP requests. This is normally due to a firewall, or MS proxy server blocking port 25 requests. Also, make sure that the SMTP service is running on that machine.
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5. My ISP does not allow me to send email from my domain through their servers. Do you offer a mail relay?

Yes, NetBenefit have a mail relay that you can use. The hostname is as follows: mailhost.yourdomain
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6. My mail server is connecting correctly to the Store & Forward server, but I am not receiveing any emails?

By default, when your Store & Forward service is setup it does not route e-mails to our Store & Forward server - this enables you to be able to test the service before any email is routed to our Store & Forward server. Once you have completed testing we can then, on request, route emails to your Store and Forward account.

7. People have tried to send me emails but they are getting bounced emails. Where is the problem?

Normally if e-mails are bouncing this is due to an incorrect email address being used. If the error contains 'Incorrect Local Part in Sender' your mail server may have a configuration issue.
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8. On my mail server I can send e-mail using DNS, what addresses do I use?

Using the DNS system, you will need to contact your Dial Up service provider and ask them for their DNS server addresses.
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9. Do I need a static IP address to use this service?

The NetBenefit Store and Forward service does NOT require your Mail server to have a static IP address and therefore you can use any Dial Up provider.
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