Network Engineering
& Operations

Openrelay Policy

Change in Open Mail Relay Affects Some E-mail Users
What is Affected
What You Need To Do
What will happen if you do not have the correct settings
Additional Help
Open Mail Relay Background Information
FAQ on Open Relays

Change in Open Mail Relay Affects Some E-mail Users

The Office of Information Technology reversed its open mail relay policy on Tuesday, February 27, 2001 to improve OSU's e-mail accessibility. Ohio State Internet services such as smtp.service, the HomeNet modem pool, ResNet and OSUWEB.net are not affected by this policy change.

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What Is Affected The policy change affects the capability to send e-mail for approximately 10,000 OSU faculty, students, and staff who send e-mail from Internet Service Providers such as Road Runner, AT&T, AOL, or Microsoft Network, but relay their mail through the university's servers.

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What You Need To Do If you use a commercial Internet Service Provider but send (relay) your outgoing e-mail through OIT's e-mail server (smtp.service.ohio-state.edu), you must change your e-mail software's configuration setting so that it points to the server provided by your Internet Service Provider and not OIT's. It's a relatively simple process to enter the new SMTP server name in the e-mail client software's configuration settings.

To get the correct address for your ISP, check this SMTP server list or contact your Internet Service Provider directly. Then choose the link for the e-mail software you use and following the directions to enter the new address.

Eudora

Microsoft Exchange

Microsoft Internet Mail Setup

Microsoft Outlook 98

Netscape Messenger

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What will happen if you do not have the correct settings
When you click on "Send Mail" you will receive an error message indicating the message was not sent. You will not lose the message. All that you need to do is enter the correct SMTP server address for your Internet Service Provider in the appropriate area according to the instructions provided. Save the Settings, then find and resend the queued message.

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Additional Help
If you need assistance changing your e-mail setting, contact one of the following:

your department's computing support staff
your chosen ISP's support staff
OIT Technology Support Center by e-mail or by phone at 688-HELP

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Open Mail Relay Background Information: Why We're Reversing the Policy
Open mail relays such as Ohio State's are SMTP (Simple Mail Transport Protocol) e-mail servers that allow any Internet host to "bounce" mail through them to other Internet mail addresses. This system allows any e-mail to move through the Ohio State domain unchecked, and it leaves the domain vulnerable to spam (unsolicited bulk e-mail comparable to postal junk mail) sent to or through the servers, usually with easily faked addresses that make it difficult to trace to the originators. Other Internet hosts can blacklist servers that allow open relaying, which means that they will not accept any e-mail, legitimate or otherwise, coming from or through those servers' domains.

Blacklisting is happening to the Ohio State domain to the extent that we feel it is time to reverse our open relay policy. Sites like Road Runner and Kodak no longer accept incoming e-mail from blacklisted SMTP servers, which means that many OSU users have been unable to send e-mail to these sites. Because blacklisting has become prevalent, it is imperative that we discontinue open relaying on our mail servers.

When we stop open relaying, Ohio State will be dropped from spam blacklists and the university will be able to return to more consistent e-mail delivery to all sites. The change of policy does not mean that all spam will cease, but it does mean that people who send spam cannot relay their e-mail through Ohio State. After the conversion, our SMTP servers will accept e-mail in only two cases: mail destined for our domain and mail, regardless of destination addresses, from the IP address range that our SMTP servers support.

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The Ohio State University

www.osu.edu

Openrelay Policy