nsaction. Mail Communication # Relaying everything to a server my $relay = new Net : : SMTP : : Server : : Relay ($sender > {FROM}, $sender - > {TO} $sender - > {MSG} ) ; # In an ideal implementation the mails needs to be stored in the server # Storage ensures that mails can be accessed later using an access protocol 29.7 Conclusion The intent of this chapter is to introduce the reader to the basic concepts of mail communication. The chapter started with a basic overview of mail messaging and mail delivery process. Then some of the mail protocols for data transfer and access were discussed. MIME, which is an important concept in mail delivery, was also handled. The chapter concludes with an implementation example of SMTP server and client using the Perl programming language. Event handling is an essential activity in operation support solution and mail communication is a way of notify- ing operators and business managers on critical events. Additional Reading 1. Pete Loshin. TCP/IP Clearly Explained. 4th ed. San Francisco, CA: Morgan Kaufmann, 2003. 2. John Rhoton. Programmer's Guide to Internet Mail: SMTP, POP, IMAP, and LDAP. Florida: Digital Press, 1999. 3. Rod Scrimger, Paul LaSalle, Mridula Parihar, and Meeta Gupta. TCP/IP Bible. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2001. 4. Laura A. Chappell and Ed Tittel. Guide to TCP/IP. Kentucky: Course Technology, 2001. 5. Candace Leiden, Marshall Wilensky, and Scott Bradner. TCP/IP for Dummies. 5th ed. New York: For Dummies, 2003. Chapter 30 File Handling This chapter is about the file transfer that is a common method of data exchange. Performance and other data records are collected in the network elements at regular intervals and stored in files. These files in the network elements needs to be trans- ferred to the OSS solutions for analysis and plotting the data in the records in a user-friendly manner. File transfer protocol (FTP) is the most common protocol used for transfer of files across systems. This chapter introduces the reader to file handling concepts and the use o