IP servers and clients

E-mail has a destination address, but unlike web page information, it can sit around in the World wide web for a while. Because the sender let go of the file, and the receiver does not even know it is coming yet, the servers on the Internet give a lower priority to e-mail files than to web page information that needs to be there right away! (Such as Internet pages) They might not get to it till hours later.

Once delivered, these messages will sit in the mailbox at your server, until you connect and find out if there are any messages.

What to do with messages on your server?

	You can delete them from the server after you read them. You would do this at with web based services, so your mailbox is never "full".
	You can keep the messages on the server after you read them. You might want to put them in a different folders to organize your mail for later..
	You can download the messages first to your computer’s hard drive and then delete them from the server. This way, you can have a large amount of e-mail without taking up web space.
	You can still leave them on your server as well as on your computer so you can access certain information later! (SEE BELOW) You would do this if you access your e-mail at a friend's house. You do not know what messages are going to be downloaded, and you might need important messages later at home.

Accessing your e-mail from home and from work.

The last option that is mentioned above, is ideal if you regularly access your e-mail from home and from work. You tell both computers to leave the e-mail on the server for let's say seven days.

Whenever you downloaded your messages on one computer, they are still available on the server to download them later on your other computer. Here is where you set your preferences in Microsoft Outlook Express:

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