This talk will introduce you to the basics of how email works on a technical level - for example, what message headers are and how email is actually sent across the network. It will also introduce you to many of the technical standards you should consider implementing if you are deploying email.

Specifically, we'll cover:

• The traditional UNIX mail architecture - including MUAs, MDAs and MTAs
• The basic mail protocols, like SMTP, POP3, and IMAP
• STARTTLS
• SPF
• DKIM
• DMARC
• Greylisting
• Antispam applications like SpamAssassin

Because of time constraints, this talk will mention but not focus on the practical, sysadmin-y aspects of deploying email (in other words, it's not a tutorial for how to run an email server). Rather, it will give you high-level knowledge that you can then apply when getting your hands dirty and actually setting up services.