Creating and Managing Routing Groups

In all but small single or multiple Exchange server organizations, there is a need for more complex configurations to connect multiple Exchange servers. In these scenarios, locations and Exchange servers are connected using Routing Groups and Routing Group connectors.

As multiple Routing Groups are created, each Routing Group can be connected by creating an Exchange Routing Group connector using multiple connection types:

• Routing Group Connector

• SMTP Connector

• X.400 Connector

Routing Groups are located in the Exchange System Manager and are located in each Administrative Group. A single Routing Group is self-sufficient and possesses certain limitations when in a Exchange Server 2003 Mixed Mode environment.

Understanding Exchange Server 2003 Routing Groups

A Routing Group is a collection of Exchange servers that communicate with each other directly over the same internal network or reliable connection.

When multiple Routing Groups must be created, each individual group must be connected using one of three available Exchange connection types:

• Routing Group Connector This connector is the default connector type. It can be used to connect a single or multiple Exchange bridgehead server for load balancing of message traffic.

• SMTP Connector The SMTP connector uses the Simple Mail Transport Protocol to connect and communicate with remote Routing Groups, non-Exchange mail systems, and the Internet mail host.

• X.400 Mail Connector Limited to a single local and remote host, the X.400 connector is primarily designed for communications between Exchange Server 2003 and X.400 mail systems.

Mixed Mode

When Exchange Server 2003 is in a mixed environment, Routing Groups can consist of only servers that had been installed directly into the Administrative Group where the Routing Group resides. Additional servers from other Administrative Groups cannot be added to the Routing Group.

Native Mode

After the functional level has been raised to Native Mode, Exchange servers can be managed and moved between Routing Groups.

Also, Routing Groups in a single Administrative Group can contain servers from other Administrative Groups.

Installing Routing Groups

Depending on whether you are installing additional Routing Groups into the existing Administrative Group, different tasks must be performed to create new Routing Groups.

To create and establish Routing Groups within a new Exchange Administrative Group, the first step is to create the Routing Group container. The Routing Group container is similar to a folder in Windows Explorer and is used to house and organize one or more Routing Groups.

NOTE

The default first Administrative Group contains the default Routing Group container. Only one Routing Group container is allowed in each Administrative Group. Multiple Routing Groups can then be added to each Routing Group container.

When creating and configuring a new Routing Group into a new Administrative Group, the first step is to create the routing container. To install the Routing Group container, begin by selecting the new Administrative Group in the Exchange System Manager where the container will be located.

1. Select the Action menu from the Exchange System Manager and select New, Routing Group Container. This creates a container called Routing Groups.

2. To begin installing individual Routing Groups, from the Exchange System Manager, select the Routing Group container where the Routing Groups will reside.

3. From the Action menu, select New, Routing Group.

4. Enter the name of the new Routing Group, and enter any details or administrative descriptions in the Detail tab. Select OK when finished.

Moving Exchange Servers Between Routing Groups

After Administrative Groups have been populated with Exchange servers and Routing Groups, one task often completed is moving servers between Routing Groups. This task is usually performed as administrators begin to create a more complex Exchange organization and routing infrastructure.

With Exchange Server 2003, administrators can move Exchange server between Routing Groups. However, one limitation is that Exchange servers cannot be moved between Administrative Groups.

To move an Exchange server to a different Routing Group, begin by opening the Exchange System Manager. Expand the Routing Group folder where the Exchange server resided, and expand the Routing Group folder where the Exchange server will be placed. Simply drag and drop the Exchange server object from the source Routing Group to the destination Routing Group.

CAUTION

When using and configuring Routing Groups, ensure that new Exchange servers are installed in the proper Administrative Group where their Routing Group resides. Exchange Server 2003 systems cannot be moved between Administrative Groups in Exchange Server 2003.