E-mail works in a very similar way to web sites. In fact to send an e-mail no more hardware is required than what it takes to view a web page.

Let's take apart a simple e-mail address: name@example.com, and work backwards!

When you send an e-mail to name@example.com, the first steps involved are identical to how a web site works. Your computer goes through the same steps to find example.com as it would say, google.ie