This month we will be looking at the reasons why now and then the email we have just sent has come back to us and fail to reach the person we sent it to. You will see there is more than one explanation for emails that bounce back.

* Web sites of Interest
* Statistics of Interest
* Quote of the month

WHERE ALL THE EMAILS GO

What is a bounced e-mail? It is the one that never reaches the intended recipient. It never arrives to the inbox. Instead it is sent back to the original sender with a message saying an error occurred and the e-mail transmission was not successful. So the question is what happens when you send your e-mail, where does it go and why does it sometimes bounces back?

When a user attempts to send an e-mail, in another way, he is telling his e-mail system to look for the domain name of the recipient and the domain's mail server. Once the e-mail system makes contact with the recipient's mail server, the mail server looks at the message to decide if it will let the message pass through the server. If the recipient's server has some issues regarding the e-mail from the sender's address (for example, if it has blocked the address for anti-spamming purposes), the server will decline the message and as a result of it, the e-mail will bounce back to the sender. The message will also bounce back to the server if the mail server on the recipient's end is busy and cannot handle the request at that time. This is called a hard bounce.

If the e-mail has been accepted by the recipient's mail server there is still a possibility for the message to be rejected. The mail server has to determine whether the recipient actually exists within its system and if that recipient is allowed to accept e-mails. If the recipient's address is non-existent on the mail server, then the message will not be delivered, because there is no one to deliver it to. If the sender makes a spelling error to the recipient's address then the system will recognize this as an address that does not exist and the e-mail will be returned back to sender again. If the recipient exists but does not have enough space to accept the message, the message will bounce back to the sender. This is called a soft bounce. Some mail systems set a maximum message size that it will accept and will automatically bounce the message if it goes beyond that size, especially if the attachments are huge. Some mail systems set a maximum amount of disk space the user is permitted to occupy on the server.

Another reason for a returned email is a network failure. In this case the email will bounce back to the sender.

TOP 10 LANGUAGES USED ON THE INTERNET

1. English
2. Chinese
3. Japanese
4. Spanish
5. German
6. French
7. Korean
8. Italian
9. Portuguese
10. Duch

Glossary

A banner - is a rectangular advert placed on a Web site either above, below or on the sides of the Web site's main content. It usually links through to the advertisers website.

Encrypting - changing plain text into code (secret text) for security purposes such as protecting Itellectual Property.

RSI - Repetitive Strain Injury – affects hands and occurs as a result of excessive keying or data entry
 

"I never think of the future – it comes soon enough"

Albert Einstein

Remember if you have any queries or would like assistance - please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Have a great month

The Strobe Net team.