Why 1.5? Why not just 1 or 2? Well, just saying 1 isn't very interesting and, technically, this isn't actually 2 entirely different ways of doing it. So, without further adieu, here's the meat of the article.

First, some definitions. Throughout this article, you'll see mention of a good bit of alphabet soup. Some of the ones that you'll likely hear a lot of are DNS (Domain Name Service / Server), MX (the Mail Exchanger record in DNS), POP3 (the third generation of the Post Office Protocol) and IMAP4 (the fourth generation of Internet Message Access Protocol). So, before just delving in, I think it would be a good idea to make sure that everyone's on the same footing.

DNS - Domain Name Service. This is kindof a phone book for the Internet. When you type in www.cybertechcafe.net into your web browser, your computer will query it's DNS servers to learn that www.cybertechcafe.net actually points to 72.51.44.45. These DNS servers also provide other information about your domain name like where to send email to.

Many companies now host their own email server, and they depend on their DSL or cable modem connection for delivery of that email. But, what happens if your DSL or cable modem connection goes down? What happens if your server fails or if you're network goes down? Well, in most cases, email may queue for a while but will eventually fail. The good news though is that it doesn't have to. Cyber Tech Cafe can provide a backup mail server, or backup MX, that will store your email until your mail server comes back online. It also goes without saying that we can help you get your DSL, cable modem, server or network back online. Cyber Tech Cafe hosting customers are eligible for a backup MX record at no charge, and non-hosting customers can get the service at a very competitive rate (starting at $4 per month). We can provide 1, 2 or 3 backup mail servers for you, all in geographically separate regions.

If you would like more information about our backup MX services, contact us.