Hosting Your Own SMTP Mail Using Exchange 2000

Connecting Exchange 2000 to the Internet

External DNS Records needed:
1. MX
2. Host

The MX record refers to a Host Name and there will then be a Host (A) record that links that Host Name to an IP address. For example: mydomainname.com has an MX record that points to mail.domainname.com.

There will also be an A record that points mail.domainname.com to a public IP address.

How to test the your mx records are correct:

1. Open a command prompt window
2. Type nslookup and hit enter
3. Type server servername.domain.com
where the servername.domain.com is the dns server name that contains your records. You may instead put its IP address.
4. Type set type=all
5. Type mydomain.com

There you will see something similar to:

Server: ns1.mydomain.net
Address: x.x.x.x

mydomain.com nameserver = ns1.mydomain.net
mydomain.com nameserver = ns2.mydomain.net
mydomain.com
primary name server = ns1.mydomain.net
responsible mail addr = admin.mydomain.com
serial = 58
refresh = 900 (15 mins)
retry = 600 (10 mins)
expire = 86400 (1 day)
default TTL = 3600 (1 hour)
mydomain.com MX preference = 10, mail exchanger = mail.mydomain.com

ns1.mydomain.net internet address = x.x.x.x
ns2.mydomain.net internet address = x.x.x.x
mail.mydomain.com internet address = x.x.x.x


OK, so you now have your MX record created that points to your public IP address. The next step is to make sure your users have valid SMTP addresses. Microsoft Exchange 2000 uses something called ôRecipient Policiesö to assign SMTP email addresses to your users. What you need to do is check to make sure the correct addresses are being assigned. In Exchange System Manager, expand the ôRecipientö container and then click on ôRecipient Policiesö. On the right hand side of the screen you should see ôDefault Policyö. Right click over ôDefault Policyö and select Properties. The properties dialogue box for the Default Recipient Policy will now be displayed.

Gladys I. Rodriguez
GlobalStrata Solutions Inc.
http://www.globalstrata.com
[img http://www.globalstrata.com/smileys/smile2.gif]