Email Alias (Forwarder) vs. Email Account (Mailbox)

For each hosted domain name (e.g., www.HostedDomainName.com) you own or control, there are two varieties of email addresses you may create: the email account (mailbox) and the email alias (forwarder).

Main Point of Contrast: Alias vs. Mailbox

An alias is a "fake"; when an alias is created, no mailbox is created - only a forwarder which passes email along to an email account (mailbox) you already have.

An email account (mailbox) has nothing to do with any email accounts or mailboxes that you may already have. There are no prerequisites.

An email alias has everything to do with a mailbox that you already have; all email sent to the alias will be forwarded to the mailbox you already have. One cannot have an alias without a functioning email account (mailbox).

Basically, if you want the people in your organization to have email mailboxes, then this is a job for your network administrator or other onsite person with sufficient technical skills. Why? Email accounts (mailboxes) require onsite implementation and maintenance; every user must have email client software, which must be kept current and must be configured properly. This is usually a job best performed by onsite personnel.

Always Use Standard Naming Conventions

Regardless of whether you decide to use mailboxes or aliases, you will need to decide upon a standard naming convention for all new email addresses. Popular choices include using first names only, first names with last name initial, last names with first name initial, and first name plus last name. Personally, I recommend using full names (first and last names) unless the organization is so small there is no chance of duplicate names. In the event two people share the same first and last name, then a middle initial can be used, or perhaps either their given names or their primary nicknames are different, and that different name can be used instead of a middle initial.

Email Account (A Fully-Functioning Mailbox)

An email account (mailbox) has nothing to do with any email accounts or mailboxes that you already have.

By mailbox, we are referring to a fully-functioning email account. Almost everyone already has a mailbox these days -- either through their home ISP (Internet Service Provider), such as Comcast or Bellsouth, or through one of the popular webmail sites, such as Gmail (Google's webmail), Yahoo, and Hotmail.

Pros of Email Accounts

An email account is a fully-functional email address or mailbox with its own inbox, spam controls, outbox, etc.
An email account is completely separate from (i.e., it does not necessarily depend upon or forward to) any other email accounts or addresses you may already have.

Cons of Email Accounts (Mailboxes)

Email accounts (mailboxes) must be configured individually on every computer where email is going to be checked
In a company setting, there should be someone onsite to configure and support email accounts on all new computers, install and troubleshoot email client software on all computers, and configure computers for all new and/or relocated employees
Each email account requires a unique username and password combination

Steps Involved: Creating a New Email Mailbox

The steps to be performed for each email user are as follows:

(Optional) Designate someone in your organization to be in charge of all email client configuration and troubleshooting.
Decide upon a standard naming convention for all new email addresses (responsibility of client).
Make a list of all new email addresses to be created (responsibility of client).
Ensure that adequate client email software is installed on each user’s computer (responsibility of client). Popular choices for email client software include Outlook, Outlook Express, Eudora, Powermail, and others.
Using either mail server utilities or the web hosting control panel (whichever is applicable), create the new email mailbox(es). NOTE: This step should be performed only by the webmaster, network administrator, or other individual with proper credentials. (Frasier)
Configure the client email software on the user’s computer.
Test the new email account to ensure the sending and receiving functions are working properly.
Determine the appropriate storage levels which will be allowed for each new mailbox, and set accordingly.
Determine the appropriate settings for spam control for each new mailbox, and set the spam control variables accordingly.

Email Alias (Forwarder)

An email alias is NOT a mailbox -- it is only a forwarder. It forwards everything to an account you already have.

An email alias has everything to do with an email account or mailbox that you already have; all email sent to the alias will be forwarded to the mailbox you already have.

The easiest way to describe an alias is to say that it automatically forwards e-mail to another existing e-mail account. For example, an alias called timshelly@richlandplace.com could be created and forwarded to a4680tjs@comcast.net -- or to any other email address that already exists. Aliases are very convenient, and there is no limitation on where you can have the e-mail forwarded to. This is handy for those of you who only want to deal with one e-mail account, but would like different e-mail addresses.

An email alias is a simple redirection of all email sent to it. All email addressed to the new alias (timshelly@richlandplace.com) will be automatically forwarded to a different email address that already exists (a4680tjs@comcast.net). In other words, it allows email addresses to be redirected before they are processed by a mail server.

Another example: an email alias involves forwarding all email sent to a new email address (e.g., webmaster@richlandplace.com) to an existing email address (e.g., stephen@bestwebnashville.com).

Again, an email alias is NOT a mailbox -- it is only a forwarder.

Pros of Using Email Aliases

Email aliases are simple; setup is easy and quick.
No configuration is necessary on the client side (the computers of users) for email aliases.
All setup and configuration of email aliases is performed by a technical person (the web developer, webmaster, network administrator, etc.) on the mail server or web server, whichever applies in a given situation

Cons of Using Email Aliases

The user of an alias must already have an existing email account; this is where all email sent to the new email address are forwarded. For example, if you decide to use aliases, then all emails sent to the new email alias timshelly@richlandplace.com will be automatically forwarded to the existing mailbox at a4680tjs@comcast.net. With aliases, all emails will be forwarded to an email account (mailbox) you already have, not to a new or separate mailbox.

Steps Involved: Creating a New Email Alias

The steps to be performed for each email user are as follows:

Decide upon a standard naming convention for all new email addresses (responsibility of client).
Make a list of all aliases to be created AND the existing email address for each user, to which the email will be forwarded (responsibility of client).
Create all new aliases (Frasier).
Send a test email to each new alias (Frasier).

More Basic Information About Email

By mailbox, we are referring to a fully-functioning email account. Almost everyone already has a mailbox these days -- either through their home ISP (Internet Service Provider), such as Comcast or Bellsouth, or through one of the popular webmail sites, such as Gmail (Google's webmail), Yahoo, and Hotmail.

In any case, if you have a mailbox, then you have a physical email storage folder that resides on a mail server somewhere out there in cyberspace. The physical location of your mail server rarely matters these days, as long as it is secure and reliable. The mail server has the right software and utilities installed on in that allow processing for viruses and spam. The mail server processing is basically invisible to most users. It happens on the servers designated and controlled by the ISP (Comcast, Bellsouth) or the webmail organization (Google, Yahoo, Hotmail).

The client, using an email program on their end -- the client end -- such as Outlook, Outlook Express, Eudora, etc., connects to the mail server and requests the email. If the username and password are correct, the email is released and is sent to the user’s computer.

If you subscribe to the services of an ISP (Comcast, Bellsouth), then the email account you have with them is a full-fledged (probably POP3) email account, and it probably allows you to create as many aliases as you want (although most people don't use this feature).

Other Resources

If our explanation still does not make sense, then perhaps someone else has described it in a way that seems more logical to you. Here are a few other sites that describe the differences between fully-functional email accounts (mailboxes) and email aliases:

BestWeb Nashville