Re: Email direct from IBM i without relay (was: New lower cost IBM i announced

If you've ever worked in a shop they normally have one in-house email
proxy/server/relay (ie, Exchange, Domino, etc) that ALL emails "should" go
through before going to the web.

I wouldn't call that sending directly from IBM i, I would call that using
Exchange, Domino, etc. to relay mail originated from IBM i.

The part that confused me was your assertion about that just being the way
that email is done; almost as if that were required. IBM i certainly
doesn't require it. Perhaps you're referring to company policy.
Technically, mail relay is optional.

I'm saying that people can and do use the IBM i SMTP client to send email
directly to end-points, without going through internal or external relays.

These days those in house relays are being replaced with cloud systems that

we've already mentioned.

Regarding "cloud systems", in the context of this discussion, how about we
call that using 3rd party relay services, which are available on the
Internet. Let's not call that emailing directly from IBM i.

That is were the IBM i email system falls short.

(It can also fall short with some in house systems if they require
authentication, secure transport, etc, but that in itself is rare).

In regards to IBM i built-in servers falling short, the assertion is vague
and somewhat misleading. The IBM i SMTP server can be configured to
authenticate, encrypt, and relay through an internal or external 3rd party
services. As you indicated previously, that's a global configuration, which
I assume to be your "falling short" basis.

Again, you're not thinking of the IBM i sending emails like a PC, that's
the main issue.

Agreed. PC's authenticate and relay through an ISP. IBM i can send email
directly without using a relay service.

Now, here's a question for you, Nathan. What domain do your emails come
from when sending from your IBM i?

In the case of our development server, In the message headers, we specify a
sender address as something like:

example@xxxxxxxxxx

Which corresponds with an SMTP name which is defined via WRKNAMSMTP.

How many different accounts can you

send email with from your IBM i?

We only have a couple accounts defined. But I'm not aware of any limit to
the number that can be defined.

Send me one to my gmail account here...
I'm curious.

Okay, just please don't add my account to your spam list ;-)