Choosing IMAP or POP for Access to Mail.sas
For most users, use of the IMAP protocol is a better choice than POP. This
document explains some of the differences between the two protocols.
IMAP
IMAP e-mail clients only download the headers of your messages, until you actually
read the message. Inbox messages are kept on the server, unless you choose to
move them to a local mail folder. An IMAP e-mail client can access multiple
e-mail folders on the server and can access a combination of remote (server
based) and local mail folders.
IMAP is almost always a better choice than POP, especially for anyone who wants
to access their mail from multiple locations.
POP
POP e-mail clients connect to your mail server and then download the messages
in your inbox to the computer on which you are working. If you plan to only
access your account via a POP client on one computer, you can set the client
to remove your messages on the server once the client has downloaded
them. However, if you plan to access your account from more than one computer
and want to see messages you read while on the other computer, you should
set the client to keep your messages on the server. If you choose
the latter method, you will either have to set your client to only keep the
messages in the server for a few days (we recommend 3-5 days) or you will
have to connect to mail.sas directly (via webmail, elm,
mutt, or pine) from
time to time to delete the messages that accumulate, or you run the risk of
exceeding your inbox quota and the disk quota for your home
directory. If you want to access your mail from more than one location, IMAP
is almost always a better choice.
POP mail clients can access only your inbox on the mail server, not any other
mail folders you might set up on the server with another client.
General Issues
We do not recommend that you use a combination of POP and IMAP clients or ever have two clients accessing your account at the same time.
This can cause unpredictable results, such as repeated downloads of previously
downloaded messages in POP clients and loss of messages.
For both POP and IMAP, e-mail performance will be best if you keep no more
than a few megabytes of mail in your inbox. If you exceed 5 or so megabytes,
you may notice performance problems that would not be apparent with a smaller
inbox.
| Protocol |
Server Name |
Comment |
| IMAP (one of the incoming server types) |
imap.sas.upenn.edu |
Mail stored largely on mail.sas; recommended for most users. |
| POP (one of the incoming server types) |
pop.sas.upenn.edu |
Mail downloaded to local machine. |
| SMTP (outgoing server) |
smtp.sas.upenn.edu |
Another SMTP server may have to be used when off campus,
depending on ISP being used. Please see here for
more information. |
For complete configuration instructions for various email clients, please
see
here.
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Last modified: Friday, 27-Aug-2004 17:03:07 EDT
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