If you have a cloud web hosting package and you create an e-mail address, you may take the option to send and receive messages for granted, but in fact, this is not always the case. Sending e-mails is not always part of the web hosting plans that providers have and an SMTP service is required to be capable to do that. The abbreviation represents Simple Mail Transfer Protocol and this is the piece of software that permits you to send out e-mails. If you work with an e-mail application, it connects to the SMTP server. The latter then searches the DNS records of the domain name, that is a part of the receiving address to find out which email server handles its email messages. After some system data is swapped, your SMTP server provides the message to the remote IMAP or POP server and the e-mail is finally delivered in the related mailbox. An SMTP server is needed if you work with some kind of contact form too, so if you have a cost-free hosting plan, for instance, it is likely that you will not be able to make use of this type of form as many free website hosting companies don't allow outgoing e-mail messages.