Creating Distribution Groups

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Distribution groups are mechanisms for managing the delivery of information. Windows Small Business Server creates a default distribution group that includes all users of the network. Messages sent to the distribution group’s e-mail address go to all members of the group.

Tip 

Multiple distribution groups are useful when you don’t maintain an internal Web site, which is a more efficient and manageable method of delivering information to users.

To create a distribution group, complete the following steps:

1. Launch Server Management from the Start Menu. Click Distribution Groups in the console tree then click Add A Distribution Group to launch the Add Distribution Group Wizard.

2. On the Distribution Group Information page, provide a name, description, and e-mail alias for the distribution group. (See Chapter 14, “Using Exchange Server,” for more information about creating e-mail aliases.)

3. On the Group Membership page, select members.

4. On the Group Manager page, you can specify a group manager from the distribution group. The group manager can change the membership of the group using Microsoft Office Outlook 2003.

5. On the Group Options page, select the group options to enable (Figure 9-2).

   • Create A Public Folder To Archive E-Mail Messages Sent To This Group. Depending on the nature of the distribution group, you might want all messages sent to the group saved in an Exchange public folder. Select this option and a public folder named Distribution_Group_Name Archive will be added as a member of this group.

   • Enable This Group To Receive E-Mail Messages From Users Outside Of Your Network. Select this option when part of this distribution group’s role is communicating with people outside the network. If the group is strictly internal, clear this check box.

   
   Figure 9-2: Selecting options for a new distribution group.

6. On the final page of the wizard, the settings are summarized. Click the link at the bottom of the page to save the summary.

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