RFC 2645 (rfc2645) - Page 2 of 9
ON-DEMAND MAIL RELAY (ODMR) SMTP with Dynamic IP Addresses
Alternative Format: Original Text Document
RFC 2645 On-Demand Mail Relay August 1999
only an intermittent connection to a service provider. If the system
has a static IP address, the ESMTP ETRN command [ETRN] can be used.
However, systems with dynamic IP addresses (which are very common
with low-cost connections) have no widely-deployed solution.
This memo proposes a new service, On-Demand Mail Relay (ODMR), which
is a profile of SMTP [SMTP, ESMTP], providing for a secure,
extensible, easy to implement approach to the problem.
2. Conventions Used in this Document
Because the client and server roles reverse during the session, to
avoid confusion, the terms "customer" and "provider" will be used in
place of "client" and "server", although of course this protocol may
be useful in cases other than commercial service providers and
customers.
In examples, "P:" is used to indicate lines sent by the provider, and
"C:" indicates those sent by the customer. Line breaks within a
command are for editorial purposes only.
The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", and "MAY"
in this document are to be interpreted as defined in [KEYWORDS].
Examples use 'example.net' as the provider, and 'example.org' and '
example.com' as the customers.
3. Comments
Private comments should be sent to the author. Public comments may
be sent to the IETF Disconnected SMTP mailing list,
[email protected]>. To subscribe, send a message to
[email protected]> containing the word SUBSCRIBE as
the body.
4. Description
On-Demand Mail Relay is a restricted profile of SMTP [SMTP, ESMTP].
Port 366 is reserved for On-Demand Mail Relay. The initial client
and server roles are short-lived, as the point is to allow the
intermittently-connected host to request mail held for it by a
service provider.
The customer initiates a connection to the provider, authenticates,
and requests its mail. The roles of client and server then reverse,
and normal SMTP [SMTP, ESMTP] proceeds.
Gellens Standards Track