Chapter 10. IIS SMTP Service and NNTP Service

In internet information service, mail delivery, a very common component of Internet sites, is implemented through the use of Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP). Within the Internet Information Services snap-in (to the Microsoft Management Console), you have the ability to configure your hardware for sending and receiving messages over the Internet as well as customizing the service to meet your individual security and delivery requirements. The Microsoft SMTP service is designed with scalability, reliability, and performance as priorities, and it can support thousands of users on a single server.

The Microsoft SMTP service is installed by default during the installation of Internet Information Services. The Microsoft Management Console (MMC) is the administrative interface used to configure the SMTP service. SMTP also interfaces with other familiar administrative tools, such as Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), Performance Monitor, and Windows 2000 event logs. With these tools, any administrator can track messages and transactions, and collect statistics on usage and monitor performance.

This chapter covers the following topics:

• An overview of the SMTP architecture, including the process and services

• A survey of SendMail components available for use with Internet Information Services 5, locations of additional components, and coding samples

• A brief synopsis of SMTP and NNTP deployment options

• A comprehensive review of the SMTP property sheets in Internet Information Services 5

• A general discussion of NNTP and how it works