Working with Routing Groups


Routing groups define the physical network topology of the Exchange servers. A routing group is a logical collection of servers used to control mail flow and public folder referrals. All servers in a routing group communicate and transfer messages directly to one another. For example, if a company has branch offices in Oakland and Detroit, each office may have its own routing group. To communicate between the two locations, the routing groups are connected with connectors such as the X.400 connector, the SMTP connector, and the Exchange Routing Group connector. In a routing group, servers communicate and transfer messages as outlined in the following steps::

1.

A user in your Exchange organization sends mail to another user.

2.

Via SMTP, the mail is submitted to the SMTP virtual server on the Exchange server on which the user's mailbox resides.

3.

The Exchange server determines which server the recipient's mailbox resides on.

4.

If the recipient's mailbox is on the same Exchange server, Exchange delivers the message to the recipient's mailbox. Otherwise, the first Exchange server sends the message to the recipient's home mailbox server, which then delivers the message to the recipient's mailbox.

Although all servers communicate with each other directly in a routing group, to facilitate communication between a server in one routing group and a server in another routing group, an administrator must create a routing group connector. Although other connectors such as SMTP or X.400 can be used for the connecting servers, the routing group connector is the preferred method of connecting routing groups because it was designed specifically for routing group connections:.

Note

In native mode, all servers in an Exchange organization are placed in a single routing group called the First Routing Group. Because the servers are in one routing group, the servers communicate directly with one another. In mixed mode, each Exchange 5.5 or earlier site becomes a routing group.


Enabling and Creating Routing Groups

Administrators must configure the Exchange organization to display routing groups. After configuring this setting, the routing groups container is visible, and additional routing groups can be created for the organization. Routing groups can be enabled using the following steps:

1.

In ESM, right-click the Exchange organization and then click Properties. On the General tab, select Display Routing groups.

2.

Restart Exchange System Manager to apply the changes and enable routing groups and containers for the current operating mode.

When a routing group is created, two containers, connectors and members, are displayed beneath the routing group. The connectors' container displays all connectors installed on the servers in the routing group. The members' container displays the servers in the routing group. By default, the first server installed in a routing group is the routing group master server.

Configuring routing groups is a multiple-step process: create the routing group, add member servers to the routing group, and then connect the routing group with a messaging connector. To create a routing group, complete the following steps:

1.

In ESM, expand the Administrative Groups and select the administrative group to add the routing group to.

2.

Right-click the Routing Groups node, point to New, and then select Routing Group.

3.

On the General tab, type a descriptive name for the group and then click OK. Exchange creates the new routing group, but administrators will need to assign the servers and connectors.

Moving Servers Between Routing Groups

Administrators may want to move servers between routing groups to place those servers with the most reliable connections within the same routing group. Moving servers between routing groups is useful whenever a network topology changes, a site consolidation occurs, or servers are being centralized. In native mode, servers can move between routing groups that exist in different administrative groups. In mixed mode, however, administrators can move servers only between routing groups in the same administrative group. Moving servers is performed using the following steps:

1.

In ESM, expand the routing group that currently has the server to be moved, and then expand the Members folder in that routing group.

2.

Expand the target routing group that will be the new location for the server, and then expand the Members folder in that routing group.

3.

In the Members folder of the source routing group, select the server and drag it to the Members folder of the target routing group for the server.

Renaming and Deleting Routing Groups

Administrators may also need to rename or delete routing groups. Use the following steps to rename a routing group:

1.

In ESM, expand the Administrative Groups and select the administrative group containing the routing group to work with.

2.

Expand the Routing Groups container and then right-click the routing group to change and click Rename.

3.

Type in a new name for the routing group and press Enter.

Deleting routing groups can be performed after the containers are empty. It is good practice to move member servers to a new routing group. To delete a routing group, use these steps:

1.

In ESM, expand the Administrative Groups and select the administrative group containing the routing group to work with. Expand the Routing Groups container and then right-click the routing group to remove and click Delete.

2.

When prompted, click Yes to confirm the deletion.




Sams Teach Yourself Exchange Server 2003 in 10 Minutes
Sams Teach Yourself Exchange Server 2003 in 10 Minutes
ISBN: 0672327244
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2005
Pages: 130
Authors: James Walker

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