No, it's not a party where the host has a high IQ.
A smart host is a type of service where your incoming e-mails are routed (relayed) through an intermediate e-mail server rather than directly to your e-mail server.
Why would you want a smart host (e-mail relay server)?
Consider the case when you have to take your Exchange server off-line for periodic maintenance, or when the server is down for any other reason (unscheduled outage). What do you think happens to e-mails that are sent to your e-mail server when your server is offline? The first thing that might happen -- and a lot of this depends on the sender's system -- is that the sender of the e-mail will get notification back that the delivery of their e-mail to you has been delayed. Most Microsfot Exchange e-mail servers are configured to re-send e-mails a number of times over a 48-72 hour period in an attempt to get the e-mail to go through successfully. Some systems do not try and re-send; and some systems may not give you a notification that the e-mail did not go through.
In order to give you peace of mind that you'll not lose incoming e-mails if your server is down for any reason, you'll want to consider signing up for a smart host service. What the smart host does in normal operation is simply allow your e-mails to be first routed through their server, before forwarding them on to your e-mail server. If your e-mail server is down for any reason, then the e-mails are queued up on their server until your e-mail server is back online. Some services will also add extra spam detection to boot.
Ask SyncraTec is this is something you think you might need. We'd be happy to discuss the finer points, and help you get it configured properly, if it something that makes sense.
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