Exchange 2007 Distributed Server Setup

[Kelvin]

Hi Everyone,

I am trying to track down any documents / guides on setting up and deploying
2 exchange 2007 servers via a distributed server topology.

In general, we have 2 internet domains (eg. company1.com and company2.com).

We want all users and mailboxes for the entire organisation created on the
main Domain controller and main Exchange server at the head office. Head
office users are only concerned with e-mail to company1.com.

At a remote office, a secondary domain controller will be setup along with a
secondary exchange server. Users at this remote office are only concerned
with e-mails to company2.com.

Offices are linked via VPN but management does not want users at remote
office to rely on the head office exchange server and it was suggested we
setup the exchange servers in distributed mode instead of centralised mode.

Can anyone point us to any guides / documents on how we can set this up ?

Thanks.

[Peter De Tender]

Hi Kelvin

One of the main design considerations to keep in mind when using Exchange
2007, is the fact that it "can" be split up in 4/5 roles:

HUB transport server => responsible for mail flow
CAS client access server => handles your OWA, POP, IMAP, ActiveSync
Communications
MBX mailbox server => hosts exchange mailboxes and Outlook MAPI connections
UM unified messaging server => integration with SIP gateway
EDGE server => Microsoft's stand alone smtp relay server in DMZ

From a technical point of view, as long as no clustering is used, all roles
can be installed on the same machine; a second note is that every AD-site
where you configure a Mailbox server, a HUB server is also required. This to
allow mailflow from one site to the other, but also from users in the same
site.

Keeping this in mind, the following server configuration could be setup for
your organization:

a) on site 1 => 1 machine having HUB/CAS/MBX role on same hardware
b) on site 2 => same server configuration with HUB/CAS/MBX

email domains are configured on "Exchange organisation level", so no split
can be done based on email adresses; however, it is possible to configure a
primary email address per user (this one will be used for sending mail).

To make sure one server does not rely on the other one for send/receive
mail, you could split your send/receive connectors in some way. However,
based on email domain, your official MX record points you to the correct
site. From a CAS-server point of view, you could create an official FQDN for
each CAS-server separately, or allow CAS-proxying form one CAS-server to the
other (users logon to the CAS-server in site A; if his mailbox resides on
site 2, the CAS server will transfer the request to the CAS-server in side 2
and authenticate the user and show him his inbox in outlook web access)

I hope this makes it already a bit more clear to you.

Do not hesitate to post your questions here if any should arise.

Regards,

peter

Post by Kelvin
Hi Everyone,
I am trying to track down any documents / guides on setting up and deploying
2 exchange 2007 servers via a distributed server topology.
In general, we have 2 internet domains (eg. company1.com and
company2.com).
We want all users and mailboxes for the entire organisation created on the
main Domain controller and main Exchange server at the head office. Head
office users are only concerned with e-mail to company1.com.
At a remote office, a secondary domain controller will be setup along with a
secondary exchange server. Users at this remote office are only concerned
with e-mails to company2.com.
Offices are linked via VPN but management does not want users at remote
office to rely on the head office exchange server and it was suggested we
setup the exchange servers in distributed mode instead of centralised mode.
Can anyone point us to any guides / documents on how we can set this up ?
Thanks.

[Superfundi]

Post by Peter De Tender
Hi Kelvin
One of the main design considerations to keep in mind when using Exchange
HUB transport server => responsible for mail flow
CAS client access server => handles your OWA, POP, IMAP, ActiveSync
Communications
MBX mailbox server => hosts exchange mailboxes and Outlook MAPI connections
UM unified messaging server => integration with SIP gateway
EDGE server => Microsoft's stand alone smtp relay server in DMZ
From a technical point of view, as long as no clustering is used, all roles
can be installed on the same machine; a second note is that every AD-site
where you configure a Mailbox server, a HUB server is also required. This to
allow mailflow from one site to the other, but also from users in the same
site.
Keeping this in mind, the following server configuration could be setup for
a) on site 1 => 1 machine having HUB/CAS/MBX role on same hardware
b) on site 2 => same server configuration with HUB/CAS/MBX
email domains are configured on "Exchange organisation level", so no split
can be done based on email adresses; however, it is possible to configure a
primary email address per user (this one will be used for sending mail).
To make sure one server does not rely on the other one for send/receive
mail, you could split your send/receive connectors in some way. However,
based on email domain, your official MX record points you to the correct
site. From a CAS-server point of view, you could create an official FQDN for
each CAS-server separately, or allow CAS-proxying form one CAS-server to the
other (users logon to the CAS-server in site A; if his mailbox resides on
site 2, the CAS server will transfer the request to the CAS-server in side 2
and authenticate the user and show him his inbox in outlook web access)
I hope this makes it already a bit more clear to you.
Do not hesitate to post your questions here if any should arise.
Regards,
peter

Post by Kelvin
Hi Everyone,
I am trying to track down any documents / guides on setting up and deploying
2 exchange 2007 servers via a distributed server topology.
In general, we have 2 internet domains (eg. company1.com and
company2.com).
We want all users and mailboxes for the entire organisation created on the
main Domain controller and main Exchange server at the head office. Head
office users are only concerned with e-mail to company1.com.
At a remote office, a secondary domain controller will be setup along with a
secondary exchange server. Users at this remote office are only concerned
with e-mails to company2.com.
Offices are linked via VPN but management does not want users at remote
office to rely on the head office exchange server and it was suggested we
setup the exchange servers in distributed mode instead of centralised mode.
Can anyone point us to any guides / documents on how we can set this up ?
Thanks.

[Superfundi]

HI,
I have an almost identical situation with Kelvin, only with the following
additions. Rather than 2 companies, I have 5 companies each with their own
exchange server and operating in different countries connected via low
bandwidth VPN links.

Company executives travel from one company to another, and expect their
email to be online where ever they go. Does Exchange offer a distributed
mailbox for VIP users? That is, what ever is delivered/sent/deleted/changed
in one site, is replicated to the other remote sites overnight? It would be
more like a journeled information store, where the incremental changes for
selected VIP users are replicated to remote sites. Roaming Outlook users are
then connected to the nearest Exchange server (based on AD sites) and access
their email online.

Regards Graham