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WO2005122036A1 - Dual web mail service system using pc mail server and host mail server - Google Patents

Dual web mail service system using pc mail server and host mail server Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2005122036A1
WO2005122036A1 PCT/KR2004/002712 KR2004002712W WO2005122036A1 WO 2005122036 A1 WO2005122036 A1 WO 2005122036A1 KR 2004002712 W KR2004002712 W KR 2004002712W WO 2005122036 A1 WO2005122036 A1 WO 2005122036A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
mail
server
mail server
incoming
central
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Ceased
Application number
PCT/KR2004/002712
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Han-Ju Kim
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
TNARU CO Ltd
Original Assignee
TNARU CO Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Priority claimed from KR1020040079651A external-priority patent/KR100479157B1/en
Application filed by TNARU CO Ltd filed Critical TNARU CO Ltd
Publication of WO2005122036A1 publication Critical patent/WO2005122036A1/en
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Ceased legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L51/00—User-to-user messaging in packet-switching networks, transmitted according to store-and-forward or real-time protocols, e.g. e-mail
    • H04L51/21—Monitoring or handling of messages
    • H04L51/23—Reliability checks, e.g. acknowledgments or fault reporting

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a dual mail service system, and more particularly
  • the central mail server provides network
  • the mail server can provide a mail service.
  • FIG. 1 illustrates the configuration of a conventional mail system 100.
  • conventional mail system comprises a sender PC 101, a recipient PC 102, a sender mail
  • Each of the mail servers 103 and 104 is divided into SMTP and POP3 servers
  • the sender PC 101 activates a mail program, receives a message and a recipient
  • the recipient mail server 104 activates a mail program and receives
  • portal sites to check their mail through web pages of the portal sites.
  • server PC which is a general PC with a mail server implemented therein, provides a
  • send/receive mail must wait until the mail service of the mail server PC is restored.
  • central mail server transmits network access information of the mail server PC or the
  • the present invention provides a dual
  • a send-only SMTP server for receiving outgoing mail
  • SMTP server assigning an individual user home directory and buffer to each of a
  • PC including a general PC with a mail server implemented therein to send/receive mail
  • the at least one mail server PC sending/receiving mail to/from the
  • central mail server and providing a mail service for mail accounts requested by a
  • the at least one mail server PC can provide a mail
  • server PC to the central mail server, receiving the network access information, accessing
  • the mail server PC using the network access information to send/receive mail when the
  • mail server PC can provide a mail service, and accessing the user home directory in the
  • central mail server using the network access information to receive a mail service when
  • the central mail server includes
  • an incoming mail receiver for receiving incoming mail from the receive-only SMTP
  • an incoming mail manager for recording reception information of the incoming
  • an outgoing mail receiver for receiving outgoing mail sent by the mail server PC;
  • a destination address searcher for
  • the mail server PC may includes an incoming mail receiver for
  • central mail server an incoming mail transmitter for transmitting the incoming mail
  • an outgoing mail receiver for receiving outgoing mail from a plurality of the user clients
  • an outgoing mail transfer unit for transferring outgoing
  • the mail server PC has recovered from a state in which the mail server PC cannot
  • the incoming mail receiver collectively receives recent incoming mail
  • the central mail server transmits physical network access
  • the mail server PC can provide a mail service.
  • the mail account user receives a mail service by transparently accessing
  • the mail server with the received network access information which is a mail server PC
  • Fig. 1 is a block diagram of a conventional mail system
  • Fig. 2 is a block diagram of a dual mail service system according to an
  • Fig. 3 is a block diagram of a central mail server, which is implemented as an
  • FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram of an automatic access function of a user client
  • Fig. 5 is a detailed block diagram of a dual mail service system according to an
  • Figs. 6a and 6b are diagrams illustrating mail transmitting/receiving
  • Fig. 7 is a flow chart of a dual mail service method according to an embodiment
  • Fig. 8 is a flow chart of a procedure for registering a mail server PC in a central
  • Fig. 9 is a flow chart of a procedure for registering a user mail account in a mail
  • Fig. 10 is a detailed flow chart of the step of checking, in a central mail server,
  • Fig. 11 is a flow chart of a procedure in which a mail server PC receives
  • Fig. 12 is a flow chart of a procedure in which a user client PC receives
  • Fig. 13 is a flow chart of a procedure in which a user client PC sends outgoing
  • Fig. 14 is a flow chart of a procedure in which a central mail server sends
  • Fig. 2 illustrates the configuration of a dual mail service system 1 according to
  • the dual mail service system 1 according to
  • the present invention comprises a receive-only SMTP server 3, a send-only SMTP
  • the receive-only SMTP server 3 manages a plurality of central mail servers 5,
  • each of the central mail servers 5 manages a plurality of mail server PCs 6, and each of
  • the mail server PCs 6 provides a mail service to a plurality of user client PCs 7.
  • the receive-only SMTP server 3 receives incoming mail from an external SMTP
  • server 2 corresponding to a sender, searches for a central mail server 5 to which a
  • recipient mail account of the incoming mail belongs, and transmits the incoming mail to
  • the central mail server 5 receives the incoming mail from the receive-only
  • SMTP server 3 searches for a corresponding mail server PC 6 using a mail address of the incoming mail, and stores the received mail in a user home directory of the found
  • the central mail server 5 checks, in real time, whether or not the
  • mail server PC 6 can provide a mail service, and manages actual network access
  • the central mail server 5 functions as a domain name server.
  • the mail server PC 6 which is a general PC with a mail server implemented
  • the mail server PC 6 can provide a mail service
  • the user client PC 7 automatically accesses the mail server PC 6 or the central mail
  • the mail server PC 6 can provide a mail service (see Fig. 4). If the mail server PC 6 can provide a mail service (see Fig. 4). If the mail server PC 6 can provide a mail service (see Fig. 4). If the mail server PC 6 can provide a mail service (see Fig. 4). If the mail server PC 6 can provide a mail service (see Fig. 4). If the mail server PC 6 can provide a mail service (see Fig. 4).
  • the user and displays the downloaded mail on the screen so that the user can check the
  • the user personal work as users of general client PCs do.
  • the user In the dual mail service system 1 according to the present invention, the user
  • client PC 7 can always receive a mail service by requesting that the central mail server 5
  • PC 6 can provide a mail service normally, and marks "X" on arrows shown in Figs. 2, 4,
  • FIG. 3 illustrates the configuration of an integrated central mail server 200
  • server system 1 can be implemented as one integrated central mail server 200.
  • the integrated environment is suitable when it is easy to manage mail accounts because
  • integrated central mail server 5 is inoperable since management of all mail services is
  • Fig. 4 illustrates an automatic access function of the user client PC 7 according
  • the central mail server 5 manages a domain name of a mail server PC 6 which the client PC 7 specifies as the mail server. Specifically, the central mail
  • server 5 serves as a domain name server which provides an actual physical mail server
  • the user client PC 7 transmits the domain name of the mail
  • mail server PC 6 cannot provide a mail service.
  • network access
  • IP information refers to an actual physical address which includes an IP address and a
  • the central mail server 5 determine, in real time,
  • the central mail server 5 has provided to the client PC 7 while the mail server PC 6 was
  • Fig. 5 is a detailed block diagram illustrating a dual mail service system 1
  • a receive-only SMTP server 3 receives the mail from an external SMTP server 2
  • the receive-only SMTP server 3 comprises an
  • incoming mail receiver 31 receives incoming mail
  • the recipient address searcher 32 searches the main DB 321 for a central mail server 5,
  • the incoming mail transfer unit 33 transfers the
  • the central mail server 5 according to the present invention comprises an
  • DB 521 an incoming mail buffer 522, an outgoing mail transfer unit 53, a destination
  • the incoming mail manager 52 stores the incoming mail received through the
  • Information of the incoming mail such as
  • a recipient mail account a title, a sender mail account, and a sending date, is recorded in
  • An incoming mail information DB 521 of the user home directory A message body file of the mail is stored in an incoming mail buffer 522 implemented in the user home
  • the incoming mail buffer 522 buffers recently received incoming files within a
  • the incoming mail manager 52 also searches the incoming
  • access information manager 56 checks, in real time, whether or not each mail server PC
  • Two methods may be employed to check, in real time, whether or not the mail
  • server PC 6 can provide a mail service.
  • the network access In the first method, the network access
  • the mail server PC 6 is operable as a mail server. If the central mail server 5
  • central mail server 5 determines that the mail server PC 6 cannot provide a mail service.
  • the mail server PC 6 when the mail server PC 6 can provide a mail service, the mail
  • server PC 6 periodically pushes a "service available" indication signal to the network
  • the central mail server 5 determines that the mail server PC 6 cannot provide a mail service.
  • the mail server PC 5 according to the present invention comprises an incoming
  • the mail server PC 6 is a general PC in which a mail
  • the mail server PC 6 preferably has a web server
  • Users can use the mail server and can also receive a mail account service
  • the incoming mail receiver 61 receives incoming mail from the central
  • incoming mail transmitter 62 transmits the received incoming mail to the user client PC
  • the user client PC 7 transmits a domain name of the mail server PC 6 to the
  • server 5 searches the network access information DB 561 for network access
  • mail server PC 6 can provide a mail service, the user client PC 7 receives a path to
  • the user client PC 7 receives a path to access the central
  • the user client PC 7 selects a sending function, the user client PC 7 transmits a domain
  • access information is URL/path information, containing an IP address, of the mail server
  • the destination address searcher 54 in the central mail server 5 searches for a
  • recipient mail address of the outgoing mail determines where to send the outgoing
  • the outgoing mail transfer unit 53 leaves the
  • the outgoing mail is transmitted to the same mail server PC or a different mail server
  • an outgoing mail receiver 42 in the send-only SMTP server 4 receives the outgoing mail from the central mail server
  • An outgoing mail sender 41 in the send-only SMTP server 4 sends the outgoing
  • FIGs. 6a and 6b illustrate mail transmitting/receiving environments in the dual
  • the dual mail service system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.
  • the dual mail service system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.
  • mail service system 1 allows the client PC to receive
  • Fig. 6a illustrates a web mail service environment.
  • the web mail service has
  • web browser permits access to the web site of the mail server PC 6 or to the web site of
  • the central mail server 5 depending on the network access information provided by the
  • Fig. 6b illustrates a mail service in a POP3 server environment. The user sets,
  • set in a mail client program includes the domain name of the mail server PC 6.
  • POP3 server environment has an advantage in that the user can easily send/receive mail through a mail program without the need to enter an ID and password each time they log
  • a mail server according to the present invention has the following advantages.
  • a mail server has the following advantages.
  • server PC which is a general PC with a mail server implemented therein, can provide a
  • the central mail server allocates access information of the central mail
  • the central mail server to a user client PC, so that the user client PC can receive a dual
  • the mail server PC can operate as a general PC while performing a mail server
  • the user may power on the mail server PC only when using it for their
  • mail server substitutes for the mail server PC and provides the mail server function.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
  • Signal Processing (AREA)
  • Information Transfer Between Computers (AREA)
  • Data Exchanges In Wide-Area Networks (AREA)

Abstract

Disclosed is a dual mail service system, which includes a receive-only SMTP server for receiving/transmitting incoming mail from an external SMTP server of a sender to a central mail server; a send-only SMTP server for receiving/transmitting outgoing mail from a central mail server to an external SMTP server of a recipient; central mail server(s) for sending/receiving mail to the send-only SMTP server from the receive-only SMTP server, assigning network access information of the mail server PC to a mail server address, and receiving a domain name of the mail server PC from a user client PC; mail server PC(s) for sending/receiving mail over a network; and user client PC(s) for transmitting the domain name to the central mail server, receiving the network access information, accessing the mail server PC, and receiving a mail service when the mail server PC cannot provide a mail service.

Description

DUAL WEB MAIL SERVICE SYSTEM USING PC MAIL SERVER AND HOST
MAIL SERVER
TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a dual mail service system, and more particularly
to a system and method for providing a dual mail service to users, wherein, when a user
transmits a domain name of a mail server to a central mail server in order to
send/receive mail to/from the mail server, the central mail server provides network
access information of the mail server or the central mail server according to whether or
not the mail server can provide a mail service.
BACKGROUND ART
Along with the development of network technology, the application of email for
communicating messages between individuals has been gradually increased, replacing
conventional postal mail. Recently, email has come into popular use not only as
personal mail but also for a variety of notifications and product advertisements.
In today's society, email serves as the primary communication means due to ease
and swiftness, i.e., due to advantages in that they can be composed with ease and
convenience and can also arrive at recipients immediately after they are sent. Fig. 1 illustrates the configuration of a conventional mail system 100. The
conventional mail system comprises a sender PC 101, a recipient PC 102, a sender mail
server 103, a recipient mail server 104, and a network 105. Senders and recipients
have opened mail accounts corresponding to their addresses in the mail servers 103 and 104. Each of the mail servers 103 and 104 is divided into SMTP and POP3 servers
which use different protocols to send and receive mail. Mail is sent and received in the
following manner.
The sender PC 101 activates a mail program, receives a message and a recipient
email address entered by the user, and sends a corresponding email. The outgoing mail
is sent to the SMTP server in the sender mail server 103, and then arrives at the
recipient mail server 104. The recipient PC 102 activates a mail program and receives
mail arriving at its mail account from the POP3 server of the recipient mail server 104.
Most users have joined large portal sites and have opened mail accounts in mail
servers provided by the portal sites. Typically, users receive mail using their mail
receiving programs through POP3 servers provided by mail servers, or log into large
portal sites to check their mail through web pages of the portal sites.
Nowadays, as client users increasingly implement web sites on their PCs, i.e.,
using their PCs as web servers, some users desire to implement not only web servers but
also mail servers in their client PCs.
However, some problems occur in such a conventional system in which a mail
server PC, which is a general PC with a mail server implemented therein, provides a
mail service to a number of user client PCs. For example, if the mail server PC is not
available for whatever reason, users having mail accounts, who made requests to
send/receive mail, must wait until the mail service of the mail server PC is restored.
Particularly, although the user of the mail server PC uses it as a general PC, they
must turn it on 24 hours a day to operate it as a mail server even when they do not use
the PC. DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION
Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems,
and it is an object of the present invention to provide a system for providing a dual mail
service using a mail server PC and a central mail server, wherein the mail server PC is
provided by implementing a mail server in a general PC, and, when a client PC
transmits a domain name of the mail server PC in order to access the mail server PC, the
central mail server transmits network access information of the mail server PC or the
central mail server according to whether or not the mail server PC can provide a mail
service, so that the central mail server substitutes for the mail server PC and provides a
mail service to client PCs when the mail server PC cannot provide a mail service.
In order to accomplish the above object, the present invention provides a dual
mail service system, which includes a receive-only SMTP (Single Mail Transfer
Protocol) server for receiving incoming mail from an external SMTP server
corresponding to a sender of the incoming mail and transmitting the incoming mail to a
corresponding central mail server; a send-only SMTP server for receiving outgoing mail
from a central mail server and transmitting the outgoing mail to an external SMTP
server corresponding to a recipient of the outgoing mail; at least one central mail server
for sending mail to the send-only SMTP server and receiving mail from the receive-only
SMTP server, assigning an individual user home directory and buffer to each of a
plurality of mail server PCs (Personal Computers) to send/receive mail to/from the mail
server PC, checking, in real time, whether or not the mail server PC can provide a mail
service, assigning network access information of the mail server PC to a mail server address if the mail server PC can provide a mail service, assigning network access
information of the user home directory to the mail server address if the mail server PC
cannot provide a mail service, receiving a domain name of the mail server PC from a
user client PC, and transmitting the network access information; at least one mail server
PC including a general PC with a mail server implemented therein to send/receive mail
over a network, the at least one mail server PC sending/receiving mail to/from the
central mail server and providing a mail service for mail accounts requested by a
plurality of user client PCs when the at least one mail server PC can provide a mail
service; and at least one user client PC for transmitting the domain name of the mail
server PC to the central mail server, receiving the network access information, accessing
the mail server PC using the network access information to send/receive mail when the
mail server PC can provide a mail service, and accessing the user home directory in the
central mail server using the network access information to receive a mail service when
the mail server PC cannot provide a mail service. According to one aspect of the present invention, the central mail server includes
an incoming mail receiver for receiving incoming mail from the receive-only SMTP
server; an incoming mail manager for recording reception information of the incoming
mail in a user home directory of a mail server PC corresponding to the incoming mail,
and storing a file of the incoming mail in a buffer; an incoming mail information DB in
which the incoming mail manager stores the reception information including a recipient
mail account, a title, a sender mail account, and a sending date of the incoming mail; an
incoming mail buffer in which the incoming mail manager stores incoming mail files in
the order in which the incoming mail files are received; an outgoing mail receiver for receiving outgoing mail sent by the mail server PC; a destination address searcher for
determining whether a recipient mail account of the outgoing mail is a mail account of
the mail server PC, which has sent the outgoing mail, a mail account of a different mail
server PC, or an external mail account; an outgoing mail transfer unit for leaving the
outgoing mail in the central mail server, transferring the outgoing mail to a different
central mail server, or transferring the outgoing mail to the send-only SMTP server
according to the determination by the destination address searcher; a network access
information manager for checking, for all mail server PCs registered in the central mail
server, whether each mail server can provide a mail service in order to set network
access information, receiving a mail server address from the user client PC, and
transmitting the network access information corresponding to the mail server address;
and a network access information DB in which the network access information manager
stores network access information of the mail server PC by associating the network
access information of the mail server PC with the mail server address of the mail server
PC when the mail server PC can provide a mail service and stores access information of
the user home directory of the central mail server by associating the access information
of the user home directory with the mail server address of the mail server PC when the
mail server PC cannot provide a mail service.
In addition, the mail server PC may includes an incoming mail receiver for
receiving, in real time or at specified time intervals, recent incoming mail from the
central mail server; an incoming mail transmitter for transmitting the incoming mail,
received by the incoming mail receiver, over a network upon receiving a request from
the user client PC; an outgoing mail receiver for receiving outgoing mail from a plurality of the user clients; and an outgoing mail transfer unit for transferring outgoing
mail, received by the outgoing mail receiver, to the central mail server, wherein, when
the mail server PC has recovered from a state in which the mail server PC cannot
provide a mail service, the incoming mail receiver collectively receives recent incoming
mail, which has not been received, from the central mail server.
The dual mail service system using the mail server PC and the central mail
server, which is configured as described above, ensures that ordinary people can use
their mail server PC, which is a general PC with a mail server implemented therein, to
provide a mail service to users and can also use it as a general-purpose client PC. In
addition, when a mail account user transmits a domain name of the mail server PC to the
central mail server, the central mail server transmits physical network access
information of the mail server PC or the central mail server to the mail account user
according to whether or not the mail server PC can provide a mail service.
Accordingly, the mail account user receives a mail service by transparently accessing
the mail server with the received network access information, which is a mail server PC
address or a central mail server address, so that the user can stably send/receive mail
through such a dual mail service of the mail server PC or the central mail server.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS These and other features, aspects, and advantages of preferred embodiments of
the present invention will be more fully described in the following detailed description,
taken accompanying drawings. In the drawings:
Fig. 1 is a block diagram of a conventional mail system; Fig. 2 is a block diagram of a dual mail service system according to an
embodiment of the present invention;
Fig. 3 is a block diagram of a central mail server, which is implemented as an
integrated server, according to an embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 4 is a conceptual diagram of an automatic access function of a user client
PC according to an embodiment of the present invention;
Fig. 5 is a detailed block diagram of a dual mail service system according to an
embodiment of the present invention;
Figs. 6a and 6b are diagrams illustrating mail transmitting/receiving
environments in a dual mail service system according to an embodiment of the present
invention;
Fig. 7 is a flow chart of a dual mail service method according to an embodiment
of the present invention;
Fig. 8 is a flow chart of a procedure for registering a mail server PC in a central
mail server according to an embodiment of the present invention; •
Fig. 9 is a flow chart of a procedure for registering a user mail account in a mail
server PC according to an embodiment of the present invention;
Fig. 10 is a detailed flow chart of the step of checking, in a central mail server,
whether or not a mail server PC is available according to an embodiment of the present
invention;
Fig. 11 is a flow chart of a procedure in which a mail server PC receives
incoming mail from a receive-only SMTP server according to an embodiment of the
present invention; Fig. 12 is a flow chart of a procedure in which a user client PC receives
incoming mail according to an embodiment of the present invention;
Fig. 13 is a flow chart of a procedure in which a user client PC sends outgoing
mail according to an embodiment of the present invention; and Fig. 14 is a flow chart of a procedure in which a central mail server sends
outgoing mail according to an embodiment of the present invention.
BEST MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in
detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Fig. 2 illustrates the configuration of a dual mail service system 1 according to
an embodiment of the present invention. The dual mail service system 1 according to
the present invention comprises a receive-only SMTP server 3, a send-only SMTP
server 4, central mail servers 5, mail server PCs 6, and user client PCs 7. The receive-only SMTP server 3 manages a plurality of central mail servers 5,
each of the central mail servers 5 manages a plurality of mail server PCs 6, and each of
the mail server PCs 6 provides a mail service to a plurality of user client PCs 7.
The receive-only SMTP server 3 receives incoming mail from an external SMTP
server 2 corresponding to a sender, searches for a central mail server 5 to which a
recipient mail account of the incoming mail belongs, and transmits the incoming mail to
the found central mail server 5.
The central mail server 5 receives the incoming mail from the receive-only
SMTP server 3, searches for a corresponding mail server PC 6 using a mail address of the incoming mail, and stores the received mail in a user home directory of the found
mail server PC 6. The central mail server 5 checks, in real time, whether or not the
mail server PC 6 can provide a mail service, and manages actual network access
information corresponding to a domain name of the mail server PC 6. In this manner,
the central mail server 5 functions as a domain name server.
The mail server PC 6, which is a general PC with a mail server implemented
therein, accesses, in real time or periodically, the central mail server 5 and searches for
and downloads recent incoming mail, which has not yet been downloaded.
Depending on whether or not the mail server PC 6 can provide a mail service,
the user client PC 7 automatically accesses the mail server PC 6 or the central mail
server 5 to receive a mail service (see Fig. 4). If the mail server PC 6 can provide a
mail service, the user client. PC 7 accesses the mail server PC 6 using the network access
information, downloads incoming mail, which has been received at a mail account of
the user, and displays the downloaded mail on the screen so that the user can check the
mail.
In the present invention, 24 hour operation of the mail server PC 6 cannot be
ensured because the mail server PC 6 is a general-purpose PC rather than expensive,
dedicated server equipment and because the user of the mail server PC 6 uses it for their
personal work as users of general client PCs do. In the dual mail service system 1 according to the present invention, the user
client PC 7 can always receive a mail service by requesting that the central mail server 5
provide a mail sending/receiving service even when the mail server PC 6 cannot provide
a mail service due to network failure, mail server loading, power-off, etc., upon receiving a mail sending/receiving service request from the user client PC 7.
Marks "O" on arrows shown in Figs. 2, 4, 6a, and 6b indicate that the mail server
PC 6 can provide a mail service normally, and marks "X" on arrows shown in Figs. 2, 4,
6a, and 6b indicate that the mail server PC 6 cannot provide a mail service. Fig. 3 illustrates the configuration of an integrated central mail server 200
according to an embodiment of the present invention. A receive-only SMTP server 3,
a send-only SMTP server 4, and all central mail servers 5, which constitute a dual mail
server system 1, can be implemented as one integrated central mail server 200.
Distributed and integrated environments have their own merits and drawbacks.
The integrated environment is suitable when it is easy to manage mail accounts because
there are a small number of users having mail accounts, and also has an advantage in
that it can reduce transmission/reception load over a network. However, the integrated
environment has a disadvantage in that all mail services may be terminated when the
integrated central mail server 5 is inoperable since management of all mail services is
carried out under the control of the single server 5. On the other hand, the distributed environment is advantageous in terms of
resource management since it reduces server load when an excessive number of users is
present, and also has an advantage in that, even when a specific server fails, the
remaining servers can provide stable mail services normally. However, such high
efficiency and stability comes at high cost due to additional equipment.
Fig. 4 illustrates an automatic access function of the user client PC 7 according
to the present invention. To implement the automatic access function according to the
present invention, the central mail server 5 manages a domain name of a mail server PC 6 which the client PC 7 specifies as the mail server. Specifically, the central mail
server 5 serves as a domain name server which provides an actual physical mail server
address corresponding to the domain name of the mail server PC 6.
When the user client PC 7 intends to access the mail server PC 6 for
sending/receiving mail, the user client PC 7 transmits the domain name of the mail
server PC 6 to the central mail server 5. Then, the central mail server 5 transmits
network access information of the mail server PC 6 if the mail server PC 6 can provide a
mail service, and transmits network access information of the central mail server 5 if the
mail server PC 6 cannot provide a mail service. Here, the term "network access
information" refers to an actual physical address which includes an IP address and a
path.
Thus, it is preferable that the central mail server 5 determine, in real time,
whether or not the mail server PC 6 can provide a mail service, and it is necessary to
associate network access information of the mail server PC 6 or the central mail server 5
with the domain name of the mail server PC 6 according to the real time determination.
It is also necessary that the mail server PC 6, which has been restored from an
unavailable state to an available state, download information of a mail service, which
the central mail server 5 has provided to the client PC 7 while the mail server PC 6 was
unavailable, from the central mail server 5, and update its mail information with the
downloaded mail information.
Fig. 5 is a detailed block diagram illustrating a dual mail service system 1
according to an embodiment of the present invention. A detailed structure of the dual
mail server system 1 will now be described with reference to Fig. 5, in conjunction with a description of mail sending/receiving procedures in the dual mail server system 1.
First, the mail receiving procedure is described.
If a sender specifies, as a recipient, a user who has a mail account in the dual
mail service system 1 according to the present invention, and sends mail to the recipient,
a receive-only SMTP server 3 receives the mail from an external SMTP server 2
corresponding to the sender.
The receive-only SMTP server 3 according to the present invention comprises an
incoming mail receiver 31, a recipient address searcher 32, an incoming mail transfer
unit 33, and a main DB 321. If the incoming mail receiver 31 receives incoming mail,
the recipient address searcher 32 searches the main DB 321 for a central mail server 5,
to which the mail account of the recipient belongs, using a mail address of the recipient
(for example, aaa@xxx.com). The incoming mail transfer unit 33 transfers the
incoming mail to the central mail server 5 found by the recipient address searcher 32.
The central mail server 5 according to the present invention comprises an
incoming mail receiver 51, an incoming mail manager 52, an incoming mail information
DB 521, an incoming mail buffer 522, an outgoing mail transfer unit 53, a destination
address searcher 54, an outgoing mail receiver 55, a network access information
manager 56, and a network access information DB 561.
The incoming mail manager 52 stores the incoming mail received through the
incoming mail receiver 51 in a user home directory of a user of a mail server PC 6
corresponding to the recipient mail account. Information of the incoming mail, such as
a recipient mail account, a title, a sender mail account, and a sending date, is recorded in
an incoming mail information DB 521 of the user home directory. A message body file of the mail is stored in an incoming mail buffer 522 implemented in the user home
directory.
The incoming mail buffer 522 buffers recently received incoming files within a
set storage capacity limit. The incoming mail manager 52 also searches the incoming
mail buffer 522 to select recent incoming mail stored therein, and transmits the selected
mail upon receiving an incoming mail transmission request from the mail server PC 6 or
from the user client PC 7.
For all mail server PCs 6 registered in the central mail server 5, the network
access information manager 56 checks, in real time, whether or not each mail server PC
6 can provide a mail service, and sets its network access information in the network access information DB 561.
Two methods may be employed to check, in real time, whether or not the mail
server PC 6 can provide a mail service. In the first method, the network access
information manager 56 transmits a mail service availability check request to the mail
server PC 6, and the mail server PC 6 responds with information indicating whether or
not the mail server PC 6 is operable as a mail server. If the central mail server 5
receives no response or a response indicating that the mail server PC 6 is inoperable, the
central mail server 5 determines that the mail server PC 6 cannot provide a mail service.
In the second method, when the mail server PC 6 can provide a mail service, the mail
server PC 6 periodically pushes a "service available" indication signal to the network
access information manager 56 of the central mail server 5. If the central mail server 5
does not receive the "service available" indication signal within a limited time, the
central mail server 5 determines that the mail server PC 6 cannot provide a mail service. The mail server PC 5 according to the present invention comprises an incoming
mail receiver 61, an incoming mail transmitter 62, an outgoing mail transfer unit 63, and
an outgoing mail receiver 64. The mail server PC 6 is a general PC in which a mail
server program has been installed. The mail server PC 6 preferably has a web server
function. Users can use the mail server and can also receive a mail account service
therefrom. The incoming mail receiver 61 receives incoming mail from the central
mail server 5. Upon receiving a transmission request from the user client PC 1, the
incoming mail transmitter 62 transmits the received incoming mail to the user client PC
7, and then the user checks their own incoming mail using the client PC 7. Specifically, if the user activates a mail client program and selects a "get mail"
function, the user client PC 7 transmits a domain name of the mail server PC 6 to the
central mail server 5. The network access information manager 56 in the central mail
server 5 searches the network access information DB 561 for network access
information corresponding to the domain name received from the user client PC 7, and
transmits the found network access information back to the user client PC 7. If the
mail server PC 6 can provide a mail service, the user client PC 7 receives a path to
access the mail server PC 6 as network access information, and, if the mail server PC 6
cannot provide a mail service, the user client PC 7 receives a path to access the central
mail server 5 as network access information. Thus, the user client PC 7 automatically
and selectively accesses the mail server PC 6 or the central mail server 5 according to
network access information set by the central mail server 5 to receive incoming mail.
Next, a description will be given of a mail sending procedure in the dual mail
server system 1. If the user composes outgoing mail using a mail client program installed in the
user client PC 7 and selects a sending function, the user client PC 7 transmits a domain
name of a mail server PC 6, specified as the mail server, to the central mail server 5, and
receives network access information from the central mail server 5. This network
access information is URL/path information, containing an IP address, of the mail server
PC 6 or the central mail server 5 according to whether or not the mail server PC 6 can
provide a mail service, as described above in the mail receiving procedure.
If it is assumed that the user client PC 7 has received the network access
information of the mail server PC 6, the outgoing mail receiver 64 in the mail server PC
6 receives the outgoing mail from the user client PC 7, and the outgoing mail transfer
unit 63 transfers the outgoing mail to the central mail server 5. On the contrary, if it is
assumed that the user client PC 7 has received the network access information of the
central mail server 5, the outgoing mail receiver 55 in the central mail server 5 receives
the outgoing mail directly from the user client PC 7. The destination address searcher 54 in the central mail server 5 searches for a
recipient mail address of the outgoing mail, and determines where to send the outgoing
mail. According to the determination, the outgoing mail transfer unit 53 leaves the
outgoing mail in the same central mail server, transfers the outgoing mail to a different
central mail server, or transfers the outgoing mail to the send-only SMTP server 4. If
the outgoing mail is left in the same central mail server, it is also determined whether
the outgoing mail is transmitted to the same mail server PC or a different mail server
PC.
If the outgoing mail is to be transmitted externally, an outgoing mail receiver 42 in the send-only SMTP server 4 receives the outgoing mail from the central mail server
5. An outgoing mail sender 41 in the send-only SMTP server 4 sends the outgoing
mail to an external SMTP server 2 corresponding to the recipient of the outgoing mail. Figs. 6a and 6b illustrate mail transmitting/receiving environments in the dual
mail service system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The dual
mail service system 1. according to the present invention allows the client PC to receive
both a web mail service through a server web site and a POP3 mail service through a
mail client program of the client PC.
Fig. 6a illustrates a web mail service environment. The web mail service has
an advantage in that, at any PC, each mail account user can log into the web site of a
mail server PC and can send/receive their mail through a web interface. Domain name
information of the mail server PC6, which the user has entered into an address bar in a
web browser, permits access to the web site of the mail server PC 6 or to the web site of
the central mail server 5 depending on the network access information provided by the
central mail server 5. Accordingly, if the mail service through the web site of the mail
server PC 6 is not available for whatever reason, the user client PC 7 logs into the
website of the central mail server 5 to send/receive their mail.
Fig. 6b illustrates a mail service in a POP3 server environment. The user sets,
in a mail client program, their mail account access information such as a mail address
and a password, a POP3 server information, and an SMTP server information, and
sends/receives mail using the mail program. The POP3 and SMTP server information
set in a mail client program includes the domain name of the mail server PC 6. The
POP3 server environment has an advantage in that the user can easily send/receive mail through a mail program without the need to enter an ID and password each time they log
into the mail server PC 6.
The present invention has been described in detail. However, it should be
understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating
preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since
various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will
become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.
INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY A system for providing a dual mail service using a mail server PC and a central
mail server according to the present invention has the following advantages. A mail
server PC, which is a general PC with a mail server implemented therein, can provide a
mail service to a number of mail users. When the mail server PC cannot provide a
mail service, the central mail server allocates access information of the central mail
server to the domain name of the mail server PC, and provides the access information of
the central mail server to a user client PC, so that the user client PC can receive a dual
mail service through the mail server PC or the central mail server.
The mail server PC can operate as a general PC while performing a mail server
function. Thus, the user may power on the mail server PC only when using it for their
work. Even if the user powers off the mail server PC when not using it, the central
mail server substitutes for the mail server PC and provides the mail server function.
Thus, mail account users can constantly receive a mail service without inconvenience
even when the mail server PC performs the mail server function and the general client PC function in a parallel fashion.

Claims

What is claimed is:
1. A dual mail service system comprising: a receive-only SMTP (Single Mail Transfer Protocol) server for receiving
incoming mail from an external SMTP server corresponding to a sender of the incoming
mail and transmitting the incoming mail to a corresponding central mail server; a send-only SMTP server for receiving outgoing mail from a central mail server
and transmitting the outgoing mail to an external SMTP server corresponding to a
recipient of the outgoing mail; at least one central mail server for sending mail to the send-only SMTP server
and receiving mail from the receive-only SMTP server, assigning an individual user
home directory and buffer to each of a plurality of mail server PCs (Personal
Computers) to send/receive mail to/from the mail server PC, checking, in real time,
whether or not the mail server PC can provide a mail service, assigning network access
information of the mail server PC to a mail server address if the mail server PC can
provide a mail service, assigning network access information of the user home directory
to the mail server address if the mail server PC cannot provide a mail service, receiving
a domain name of the mail server PC from a user client PC, and transmitting the
network access information; at least one mail server PC including a general PC with a mail server
implemented therein to send/receive mail over a network, the at least one mail server PC
sending/receiving mail to/from the central mail server and providing a mail service for
mail accounts requested by a plurality of user client PCs when the at least one mail server PC can provide a mail service; and at least one user client PC for transmitting the domain name of the mail server
PC to the central mail server, receiving the network access information, accessing the
mail server PC using the network access information to send/receive mail when the mail
server PC can provide a mail service, and accessing the user home directory in the
central mail server using the network access information to receive a mail service when
the mail server PC cannot provide a mail service.
2. The dual mail service system according to claim 1, wherein the
receive-only SMTP server includes: an incoming mail receiver for receiving incoming mail from the external SMTP
server over a network; a recipient address searcher for using a recipient mail address of the incoming
mail to search a main DB for a user home directory of a central mail server
corresponding to the recipient mail address of the incoming mail; and an incoming mail transfer unit for transferring the incoming mail to the central
mail server having the user home directory found by the recipient address searcher.
3. The dual mail service system according to claim 1, wherein the send-only
SMTP server includes: an outgoing mail receiver for receiving outgoing mail from the central mail
server; and an outgoing mail sender for sending the outgoing mail, received by the outgoing mail receiver, to an external SMTP server corresponding to a recipient of the outgoing
mail over a network.
4. The dual mail service system according to claim 1, wherein the central
mail server includes: an incoming mail receiver for receiving incoming mail from the receive-only
SMTP server; an incoming mail manager for recording reception information of the incoming
mail in a user home directory of a mail server PC corresponding to the incoming mail,
and storing a file of the incoming mail in a buffer; an incoming mail information DB in which the incoming mail manager stores
the reception information including a recipient mail account, a title, a sender mail
account, and a sending date of the incoming mail; an incoming mail buffer in which the incoming mail manager stores incoming
mail files in the order in which the incoming mail files are received; an outgoing mail receiver for receiving outgoing mail sent by the mail server PC; a destination address searcher for determining whether a recipient mail account
of the outgoing mail is a mail account of the mail server PC, which has sent the
outgoing mail, a mail account of a different mail server PC, or an external mail account; an outgoing mail transfer unit for leaving the outgoing mail in the central mail
server, transferring the outgoing mail to a different central mail server, or transferring
the outgoing mail to the send-only SMTP server according to the determination by the
destination address searcher; a network access information manager for checking, for all mail server PCs registered in the central mail server, whether each mail server can provide a mail service
in order to set network access information, receiving a mail server address from the user
client PC, and transmitting the network access information corresponding to the mail
server address; and a network access information DB in which the network access information
manager stores network access information of the mail server PC by associating the
network access information of the mail server PC with the mail server address of the
mail server PC when the mail server PC can provide a mail service and stores access
information of the user home directory of the central mail server by associating the
access information of the user home directory with the mail server address of the mail
server PC when the mail server PC cannot provide a mail service.
5. The dual mail service system according to claim 1, wherein the mail
server PC includes: an incoming mail receiver for receiving, in real time or at specified time
intervals, recent incoming mail from the central mail server; an incoming mail transmitter for transmitting the incoming mail, received by the
incoming mail receiver, over a network upon receiving a request from the user client
PC; an outgoing mail receiver for receiving outgoing mail from a plurality of the user
clients; and an outgoing mail transfer unit for transferring outgoing mail, received by the outgoing mail receiver, to the central mail server, wherein, when the mail server PC has recovered from a state in which the mail
server PC cannot provide a mail service, the incoming mail receiver collectively
receives recent incoming mail, which has not been received, from the central mail server.
6. The dual mail service system according to claim 1, wherein the central
mail server or the mail server PC implements, therein, a web server including a web site to provide a web mail sending/receiving service for a specific mail account, requested by the user client PC, through the web site, or implements, therein, a POP3 server to provide a web mail sending/receiving service for a specific mail account through a mail
program installed in the client PC.
PCT/KR2004/002712 2004-06-09 2004-10-25 Dual web mail service system using pc mail server and host mail server Ceased WO2005122036A1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (4)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
KR10-2004-0042316 2004-06-09
KR20040042316 2004-06-09
KR10-2004-0079651 2004-10-06
KR1020040079651A KR100479157B1 (en) 2004-06-09 2004-10-06 Dual web mail service system using pc mail server and host mail server

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO2005122036A1 true WO2005122036A1 (en) 2005-12-22

Family

ID=35503278

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
PCT/KR2004/002712 Ceased WO2005122036A1 (en) 2004-06-09 2004-10-25 Dual web mail service system using pc mail server and host mail server

Country Status (1)

Country Link
WO (1) WO2005122036A1 (en)

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Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
KR20010092554A (en) * 2000-03-22 2001-10-26 장수진 Backup System and Method for Internet Service Web Server Providing Contents Service
US20020026486A1 (en) * 2000-08-25 2002-02-28 Hiroshiye Yabe Individually delivering system
KR20020057465A (en) * 2001-01-05 2002-07-11 신용수 An e-mail transmission system and method without the receiver's server passage
KR20040079667A (en) * 2003-03-10 2004-09-16 김형대 mail receive backup system

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* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
KR20010092554A (en) * 2000-03-22 2001-10-26 장수진 Backup System and Method for Internet Service Web Server Providing Contents Service
US20020026486A1 (en) * 2000-08-25 2002-02-28 Hiroshiye Yabe Individually delivering system
KR20020057465A (en) * 2001-01-05 2002-07-11 신용수 An e-mail transmission system and method without the receiver's server passage
KR20040079667A (en) * 2003-03-10 2004-09-16 김형대 mail receive backup system

Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US8060555B2 (en) 2005-08-17 2011-11-15 Canada Post Corporation Electronic content management systems and methods
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