SERVER: POP3 (en)
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POP3 (Post Office Protocol version 3) is a protocol used to retrieve electronic mail (email) from an email server.
This protocol is closely related to the SMTP protocol, where the SMTP protocol is useful for sending electronic mail from the sender's computer to the server.
The POP3 protocol was created because the design of the electronic mail system requires an email server that temporarily holds electronic mail until it is retrieved by the rightful recipient. The presence of these email servers is due to the fact that only a small portion of the recipient's computers are continuously connected to the internet network.
This protocol is specified in RFC 1939.
Example transaction
S = server C = Client
C : (connection initialization) S : +OK C : USER wikipedia S : +OK C : PASS indonesia S : +OK wikipedia have 2 messages (320 octets) C : STAT S : +OK 2 320 C : LIST S : 1 150 S : 2 170 S : . C : RETR 1 S : +OK 150 S : --email data-- S : . C : DELE 1 S : +OK C : QUIT S : +OK Bye
Related Protocols
- SMTP protocol for sending electronic mail
- IMAP4 a protocol similar to POP3, but with more comprehensive facilities
External links
- [RFC 1939](http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc1939.html) Post Office Protocol - Version 3