For simplicity, lets call my linux box L and my Windows box W.
Both are nodes on the LAN. Here are the knowns:
1) I have an MS Access app that automates sending of eMail
containing driver license scans for ID documentation to certified
recipients. It is a fee-based service.
2) L has SMTP mail service on it
3) W has outlook express mail client s'ware configured to use
POP & SMTP services on L
4) L has a 50K bitmap graphic file on it that I want to include
as an attachment to an eMail I am creating on W.
5) The file system in which the bitmap graphic is stored looks
like a directory to my Windows box and is seen as z:\ by W.
So I just type the full path & filespec as follows
z:\mydir\mybitmap.jpg
into outlook express' ATTACH: field and VOILA - there she goes.
QUESTION: When I click SEND, does the 50K graphic move across
the LAN from L to W, become attached to the eMail, then move again
from W to L and finally out the SMTP gateway?
My gut feeling is NO, it does not. Short of using a protocol analyzer
to snoop the wire, can any of you suggest a technique that will
proove my hypothesis right or wrong?
Normally, I wouldn't give this topic a second thought. But now, every
two days, I have 1000 of these transmissions and the rate is climbing.
It may become a source of congestion at a future point in time.