The internet
AKA The wild west

Ugh... woof...

Doggone it, Jordan! Daylight’s a’burning and we've got a whole Internet to cross.

Wha-what happened! Who the heck are you? Wait, am I a dog?!

Sender MUA

The name’s Stagecoach Mary and what were you expecting to be...a cat?! Pawlease!

Err... is this the email I just sent to Lucy? Do I have to deliver it myself?

Course! And if you want to deliver it to the Inbox we better be hopping!

And you’re in luck, partner, ‘cause I'm the local MSA of these parts. I can get you to the MTA faster than a tumbleweed in a tornado.

Sender MSA

The what now? MTA?

Darn tootin’. Kind of like a post office for email. C’mon, I’ll show you!

Here we are, Jordo! Gmail Gorge's Sender MTA! They'll help you get directions to where that message is going.

Sender MTA

Helo

Sender MTA

I’ll just call up the DNS office and they’ll know where your recipient is at...Yes, HELO? Where?! Outlook Oasis you say?

All right, Jordan. Just take the SMTP Trail, ford the datastream, and then cross the tracks near the Darknet Saloon and it's on the right!

And here. This SPF stamp validates this message was sent from an authorized mail server. Tidy!

And lick this and sign your name! Now it's sealed with DKIM, proving it was sent from an authorized sender and it wasn't altered.

I thought email just... appeared in the inbox after you hit send! I have no idea what I’m doing. I’ll be trapped in here forever!

Don't get all dark mode on me, Jordo! I typically don't do this, but it looks like you could use the help. Let’s get along, lil’ doggy!

Mush!

SMTP Trail 25

Wow! Whatta deal!