Which of the following protocols is best known for defining a set of rules that enable the sending and receiving of emails over the Internet ?

Question

Question

This question was previously asked in

CBSE Superintendent Official Paper (Held On: 20 Apr, 2025)

Answer 1

The correct answer is SMTP.

Key Points

SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) is a communication protocol used for sending emails over the Internet.
It provides rules for how email clients and servers should communicate to deliver messages.
SMTP operates over port 25 (default), port 465 (SMTP with SSL), or port 587 (SMTP with TLS).
When you send an email, your email client uses SMTP to deliver the message to the recipient's mail server.
SMTP is widely used and supported by all major email service providers like Gmail, Outlook, and Yahoo Mail.

Additional Information

SMTP is a push protocol, meaning it is used to send emails, while protocols like IMAP and POP3 are used to retrieve emails.
SMTP can be combined with authentication mechanisms to prevent unauthorized access and ensure secure email delivery.
SMTP is complemented by MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) to support sending multimedia attachments like images and videos.
SMTP was first defined in 1982 as part of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) standards.