Also referred to as the "Inbound Mail Server", POP3 is the most common protocol that users utilize in retrieving email from a server. With POP3, you are able to leave or delete email messages from the server after you download them.
Unlike web-based email, you do not need to be online in order to view your old email. Outlook, for example, provides an option that allows leaving a copy of new mail on the server. By enabling this, you can receive new mail from a remote location (e.g. somewhere other than your office) � you will get that same mail again upon returning to the office.
This feature analyzes the IP address of your current session to determine which email is �new� for your current location. Because of that, you could have one main location (your office) and several remote locations for fetching your email (a laptop, a client�s computer). However, you�ll be reading the same email over and over at each location until you receive it at your main location whereupon the mail server permanently removes it.
