Short for
message transfer agent, the program responsible for receiving incoming
e-mails and delivering the messages to individual users. The MTA transfers messages between computers. Hidden from the average user, it is responsible for
routing messages to their proper destinations. MTAs receive messages from both
MUAs and other MTAs, although single-user machines more often retrieve mail messages using
POP. The MTA is commonly referred to as the
mail server program.
UNIX sendmail and
Microsoft Exchange Sever are two examples of MTAs.
