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MailBee.NET Address Validator

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Subject Topic: can i use this to replace online services Post ReplyPost New Topic
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vinnland
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Posted: 07 October 2024 at 9:23pm | IP Logged Quote vinnland

Currently, my app uses external api services to verify emails.

I have a few questions about this:

1. If this validates email domain existence, does it validate just the domain existence (somebusiness.com) or the specific inbox existence (e.g. max@somebusiness.com)

2. Does this need to be distributed? sending verifications from one IP can get messy. If so, how can I USE it?
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Igor
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Posted: 07 October 2024 at 11:54pm | IP Logged Quote Igor

The purpose of the component is to verify whether the email address exists. I'd recommend starting with Understanding validation levels section of the Developer's Guide:

  • RegexCheck checks if the string looks like an email address, nothing else;
  • DnsQuery validation basically checks whether the domain exists AND there's an actual email server declared there;
  • SmtpConnection attempts to connect to that server;
  • SendAttempt performs a real test of sending email to that address, without sending actual data though.


So the mechanism of Address Validator is rather flexible and is designed to ensure as few false positives as possible. For this to work reliably, however, quite a few requirements have to be met:

Quote:
...your firewall and your ISP's firewall must pass outgoing connections to port 25. Many ISPs block this, so make sure it's not an issue for you.

Also, it's recommended to have a valid PTR (rDNS) record on your IP address (having MX and SPF records would be another plus), and have a working SMTP server there (some hosts only allow connections from hosts which are SMTP servers themselves). It's not necessary to have the SMTP server at the same computer. They just should have the same IP address (for instance, an SMTP server is an Internet gate either while MailBee machine is in internal network and "sees" Internet through this gate). Other working scenarios are possible too. The main idea is to make other servers think you're one of them, not just one of home computers infected by a virus and sending spam, with no public IP address, PTR record, MX record, or SMTP service running.

Even if the connection succeeds, there is no guarantee the SMTP MX host would accept e-mail for the given account name. At this point, all we know is that the e-mail address syntax is correct, the domain is valid, the SMTP MX host for this domain is online.


Hope this helps.

--
Regards,
Igor, Afterlogic Support
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ricguage
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Posted: 05 November 2024 at 5:53pm | IP Logged Quote ricguage

You're working with email validation via external API services, which is a common approach for checking the validity of email addresses. Let's break down your questions and provide some clear guidance:

1. Does email validation API check domain existence or inbox existence?
It depends on the API service you're using, but generally, email validation services can check both domain existence and inbox existence, with varying levels of detail:

Domain Existence (Basic Validation): At a minimum, email validation services check if the domain (e.g., somebusiness.com) exists. This involves querying DNS records to verify that the domain is valid and can receive emails. This is the most basic check, ensuring that the domain is properly configured to receive email.

Inbox Existence (Advanced Validation): Many email validation services also attempt to verify whether the specific email address inbox exists (e.g., max@somebusiness.com). This is a more detailed validation and involves querying mail servers to see if the individual email address is valid, often using techniques like:

SMTP verification: Sending a "ping" to the mail server to see if it would accept a message for the given address.
MX (Mail Exchange) Record checks: Verifying that the domain has valid mail servers that are capable of receiving emails.
However, note that:

Some email services (like Gmail or Yahoo) may intentionally return generic responses for privacy reasons, making inbox verification less reliable in those cases.
Inbox existence verification can sometimes be blocked or rate-limited by mail servers, especially if they detect unusual patterns of validation requests (e.g., mass checks of inboxes), so some services might limit how deeply they check specific inboxes.
2. Does email validation need to be distributed?
Yes, email verification can get messy if you send too many requests from a single IP address, especially when you're dealing with inbox verification (which can trigger rate-limiting or blocking by email servers). Here's why and how you can handle it:

Why it can get messy:

IP Rate Limiting: Many mail servers have rate-limiting mechanisms in place that can block or throttle requests if they detect too many checks coming from the same IP.
Reputation Issues: Some IP addresses could be flagged as suspicious if too many validation requests are sent in a short period, especially if you're verifying thousands of emails.
Anti-Spoofing/Anti-Spam: Some validation checks, especially if done in bulk, could be interpreted as spam or bot activity, which might affect the reputation of your application or cause IP blacklisting.
How to handle the distribution of requests:

API Rate Limiting: If you are using a third-party API for validation, these services often handle distribution for you by spreading requests across their own infrastructure. They may also have rate-limiting mechanisms in place to ensure you're not sending too many requests in a short time.

Use a Distributed Architecture (If You're Running Your Own Validation): If you run your own email validation infrastructure (which is not recommended unless you have significant resources), you could distribute requests across multiple servers or IPs to reduce the risk of being blocked. This could involve rotating IP addresses using techniques like proxy servers or using a pool of IPs to distribute the load.

Use a Proxy or VPN Network: If you're dealing with a high volume of validation checks and need to distribute traffic, using rotating proxies or a VPN network could help manage IP addresses. However, this adds complexity and might also raise flags with the email servers you're verifying against, so it should be used carefully.

Leverage a Cloud Provider's Infrastructure: If you're deploying your own validation system, using a cloud provider with distributed infrastructure (e.g., AWS, Google Cloud, or Azure) could help you distribute requests more effectively across different regions and IPs. You might use auto-scaling features to ensure traffic is spread out, but you’d still need to manage rate limits.

Ensure Compliance with Privacy Regulations: If you're rotating IPs or using proxies, make sure you comply with data privacy regulations (like GDPR, CCPA) that may apply depending on the location of your users or the data you're processing
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