Actually I have an understanding of how the system will work. But I got confused after conversing with a friend who does JAVA about how to make Mail Applications.

The mail servers that I know are POP, SMTP, and IMAP all supported by WINDOWS. But my friend says these are not web servers.

Let me put it straight:

I want to create an application that allows user to create account, send, read, reply and forward mails. What kind of servers do I need?

Moving to web servers.

I don't get what you are saying

Lol, sorry. I moved your topic to another section cause it seems like your question is more server ralated than PHP.

Yeah OK. Thank You. But the Solution...

The mail servers that I know are POP, SMTP, and IMAP all supported by WINDOWS. But my friend says these are not web servers.Actually those are not mail or web servers, they are different protocols that mail servers use to send mail and allow mail to be retrieved from mail boxes. Edit: Just for reference, here is a list of some of the protocols that are using for various purposes - http://www.wsu.edu/~scottdevries/itsupport/portnumbers.htm

You need a mail server to host the actual accounts/mail boxes.

Mail servers allow a client application (such as Outlook) to connect using the protocols you mentioned.

You can create a web based application using a scripting language such as PHP that will allow you to send and retreive... email, which will use some of the protocols you mentioned to accomplish the communications to the mail server. In addition to the mail server, this requires a web server to host the web based application and the scripting language.

Mail servers also allow connection through a direct web interface (this is how Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo mail... allow you to access your mail box through their web sites.) In addition to the mail server, this requires a web server to support the web interface.

Hope this clarifies what you need...