OK , I must be a tool but when I look for info on a mail server I never seem to get the answer to this question. Here is the deal. I want to set up some type of mail server that I can have joeshmo@datamike.com type of e-mail addresses. Do I need a registered domain name to be able to access this server from any client or can I do it through IP address? Say someone sends mail to joeshmoe@datamike.com, how does it know which server to go to? I have read tons of mail stuff so maybe I am just thick headed but is just wont click with me. Someone please kick me so I can understand.
well, you setup an external IP to be registered to that domain name. SO for exapmpe, mail.datamike.com is your mail server. You register mail.datamike.com to whatever IP you are assigned. Then when someones smtp server transfers a message to mail.datamike.com, the DNS reolves the name. Very much similar to http services and ftp services.
As Schotty said, your nameservers (or your ISP's nameservers) need to have the appropriate MX (mail exchanger) records. You can set up your mail client to send and revieve email (smtp, pop, imap) by specifying an IP, but no other mail servers will be able to communicate with you without you having first registered a domain name and then setting up MX records. It's sort of like telling the post office where to deliver your letters.
Read up on BIND and you'll get the whole picture.
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