Exch 2003 config

[jakess]

I know i have touched on this before but i realy need clarity on the following:

I need to setup Exch for 3 companies on one SBS box.
POP3 Mailboxes are with ISP.
Exch must download all email from ISP accounts.
3 different domain names

If i run the Email wizard in SBS i can add IP addresses for the different ISP mailservers etc.
Then i manually add all the POP accounts and set the primary acc to the appropiate POP account.
What will their local Exch mailboxes look like in terms of name of mailbox etc...will it be john@xxx.local or will it be john@isp_name.com
Will email be processed locally if i send email from one ISP acc to another or will it be delivered to the ISP accounts and back to Exch.

 

[ShackDaddy]

Create three separate OUs for the users. I'd also create three separate OUs for their computers. That way if you do later decide to apply unique group policies to one group, it will be easier.

You will also need to create three separate security groups so that you can restrict access to each company's shared folders.

For each domain name in use, you will want to add a domain name in the Default Recipient Policy.

One of those domain names will be the default SMTP domain name for all users on the server, so for the users of the other two SMTP domains, you will have to go into the E-Mail addresses tab of each user and set the default SMTP address to be the one that has their SMTP domain name on it. So users will have their "john@businessdomain.com" addresses. The "mary@biz.local" addresses will be in their email address lists, but they will not be used. But I wouldn't delete them.

All mail sent from your Exchange server will either go straight out to the public internet and be delivered at the destination mailservers, or it will go out to a smarthost (outbound relaying mailserver) located at the company that provides your office's internet access. That will probably be best, rather than sorting out all the reasons why remote domains might consider mail from your server to be spam.

If a user in one of your OUs sends mail to a user in another OU, that mail will not leave the office, it will be delivered internally. Any mail delivered to another local user will be delivered locally. I think that's what you were asking, right?



ShackDaddy
Shackelford Consulting

 

[jakess]

Yes thanks.
What about DNS/MX records? Where must they go?
We have one company hosting websites and POP mailboxes and another hosting DNS and ADSL lines.

 

[ShackDaddy]

You need three DNS records:

1) An A-record that points the the external IP of your site, the IP that you are using to pass traffic to your mail server through.

2) An MX record for your domain that points at the A-record mentioned above.

Both of these records should be created in your domain name's zone file/records.

3) A PTR record. Your ISP will create this for you. It doesn't go in your domain zone file. It's a record that belongs in a reverse-lookup zone. Call their support and ask for the hosting/DNS support group. Give them your static IP address and the A-record in point 1). This will keep your mail from being bounced as spam by some of the larger service providers like AOL and Earthlink.

ShackDaddy
Shackelford Consulting

 

[jakess]

SD i need to some more info regarding this POP/ISP/Exch/DNS setup.

POP email acc's with ISP A. There a are 3 different email domains.
Then there is ISP B for Internet and DNS.
What configurations are needed for ISP A or/and B?

I have previously used a mail relay server with our ISP and simply pointed our Exch box to their DNS server.Email delivery directly to Exch etc.but this other method is new to me.

 

[ShackDaddy]

If you follow the instructions I gave you above, you will be removing ISP A from the equation. Mail will be delivered directly to your server. Right now the existing MX records for those three domains point to an A record that resolves to ISP A's mail server IP. If the MX records of those domains are pointed at an A-record that resolves to your server's IP, all mail will go to your server directly.

The solution I'm describing would involve NOT using the POP Connector anymore, since it exists in SBS primarily as a transition tool, not a full-time solution. I'm not sure that you've been using it, but it sort of sounds like it.

The same company that hosts your DNS would continue to do that. The company that hosts your website would continue its work. The only thing that would change is that you would host your own mail. Setting your MX record to point to your own hostname (A-record) is what takes the job out of the hands of ISP A. You wouldn't need to configure anything on that ISP's mailserver, since no mail would be going there anymore. Actually, you could leave the MX record that points to them and create a new MX record that gives your server higher priority. That would leave them in the loop as the backup.

Are you clear on all the outbound mail stuff, including smarthost?



ShackDaddy
Shackelford Consulting