Support Note on different levels of email service with TZO
Introduction
Different levels of email service are possible, and each level is mutually exclusive. Which level you are at determines the features available to your account. For example, a domain with DNS hosting with TZO, and with that DNS's MX record pointing directly at your server means that all mail goes directly through the Internet to your server (nothing would pass through TZO servers). This guide aims to clarify the possible configurations.
TZO incoming email service levels:
- No Mail service (DNS MX record hosting only)
- TZO MailRelay (Email Forwarding)
- Store and Forward (SAF)
- POP3 Email Hosting (EHO)
Mail Records (MX) Only
With an MX record ONLY (no other TZO services), your DNS record lists your mail server's hostname. Other mail servers with mail for your domain will lookup your MX (using TZO's DNS servers), TZO will reply with your mailserver's hostname, and the remainder of the mail transaction is invisible to TZO. Check with your mail software provider to see what email filtering options are available to you.
TZO Hosted (or relayed) email Services
MailRelay (Email Forwarding), Store And Forward (SAF), and Email Hosting (EHO) will have email first going through TZO servers, which means TZO has the opportunity to "tag" or "refuse (filter) email that appears to be spam. Additional
TZO MailRelay (Email Forwarding)
This is a simple TZO email service with no storage space on the TZO servers. To function, you designate up to 25 "virtual mailboxes" which act as "forwarders" to some other email address. For example you can create one or more forwarders to direct email to your preferred email address elsewhere. All the email does not need to go to the same mailbox; each forwarder can be directed to its own and unique address if you wish.
Store and Forward (SAF)
With Store and Forward, TZO will act as a primary MX or as a backup MX server. Mail sent to your domain will collect on the TZO SAF servers until your mail server is online and healthy again (until your server will accept email which we push out). With SAF, there are no "accounts" at TZO to create, and anything@yourdomainname is forwarded on to your mail server or SAF queue.
POP3/IMAP Email Hosting (EHO)
With email hosting, email sits on the TZO pop3 servers until your users' email clients fetch new email.
Webmail services are also included. Webmail is intended as an away-from-pc convenience (note users who use Webmail exclusively must be instructed to delete old email and empty their Trash folder so their mailbox does not fill up).
