SUMMARY

This article describes the process of mail relaying.

DETAIL

Relaying is when email is accepted and then delivered to a non-local email address. ie. MailEnable has to "relay" the email back out. To avoid spammers using the mail server to send email out to anyone, users are required to authenticate against the server prior to sending email (though this can be changed). An open relay is when authentication is not required. Having an open relay will cause your server to be abused by spammers, as there is no authentication required, and you will eventually be blocked sending to remote servers.

When email is being delivered to a local address, this is not relaying, and MailEnable will always accept this email. This is how mail is received from other mail servers on the Internet, as they do not need to authenticate.

MORE INFORMATION

What are the best relay settings to use?: http://www.mailenable.com/kb/content/article.asp?ID=ME020001

How to test if my server is secured from abuse (open relay test): http://www.mailenable.com/kb/content/article.asp?ID=ME020168

Has the mail server been spammed through open relay?: http://www.mailenable.com/kb/content/article.asp?ID=ME020339