Chapter 21: Connecting to Other Messaging Systems with X.400

Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 can connect to a multitude of modern and legacy messaging systems. Until this point, we have focused primarily on working within the Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 environment. You have set up your Exchange system and learned how to deploy and administer all of its components—from routing groups to clients to clustered servers. Exchange Server 2003 is not the only messaging system out there, however. Many types of messaging systems are available today, and you might have to connect your Exchange system to one or more of them. You might, for example, be upgrading from a legacy system or need to establish communications with another company. Even though Exchange Server 2003 provides connectors for connecting to proprietary systems like Lotus Notes and Novel GroupWise, you can also use a standard X.400 Connector to connect to systems that support X.400. This chapter covers the basics of connecting Exchange Server 2003 to other messaging systems, referred to as foreign systems, using the X.400 Connector.

Note

Exchange Server 2003 no longer supports the Connector for Microsoft Mail, which was included with previous versions. The Exchange System Manager included with Exchange Server 2003 does support the management of Connectors for Microsoft Mail that are installed on servers in your organization running Exchange 2000 Server. However, you cannot configure the connector on a server running Exchange Server 2003.

Overview of X.400

X.400 is a messaging standard that is used by many messaging systems. An enterprise that implements X.400-compliant e-mail systems can support a heterogeneous messaging environment. X.400 uses a strict addressing method that reflects a hierarchical environment. An X.400 address reflects the recipient’s position in a messaging hierarchy. For example, the X.400 address for Denise Smith at the Phoenix location of a company named Contoso might be “c=US;a=;p=Contoso;o=Phoenix;s=Smith;g=Denise.” Each of these parameters represents a particular X.400 value or hierarchical placement: “c=” stands for the country; “a=” represents the Administrative Management Domain; “p=” represents the Private Management Domain and is equivalent to the Exchange organization; “o=” stands for the X.400 organization, the equivalent of an Exchange administrative group; “s=” stands for the surname, or last name; and “g=” stands for the given name, or first name.

You can use the X.400 Connector to connect Exchange Server 2003 to any foreign messaging system that supports the X.400 standard.

More Info

To find out more about the X.400 standard, look at Request for Comments 1330 (RFC 1330). You can find this online at several Web sites, including http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/information/rfc.html.

Real World—Using Other Foreign Gateways

Many messaging systems use gateways to connect to dissimilar messaging systems. Exchange Server 2003 supports many gateways in the form of connectors. The X.400 Connector, the Lotus Notes Connector, and the Novell GroupWise Connector are examples of gateways that are built into Exchange Server 2003. Other vendors provide a variety of gateways for connecting Exchange Server 2003 to external, proprietary electronic mail, fax, voice mail, and other types of systems.

Many connectors are available for Exchange Server, either included with the Exchange Server software from Microsoft or offered separately by other vendors. It is not possible to discuss here every connector that can be used to connect Exchange Server 2003 to foreign systems. For that reason, we’re limiting our discussion to the X.400 Connector because of its wide acceptance as a messaging standard. If you need to know the specifics of connecting Exchange Server 2003 to a particular messaging system, consult the Exchange Server 2003 product documentation.