How to connect workgroup computers to Domain through VPN for Exchange?

[jennyg]

Hello,

Please forgive me if I come to the wrong Forum. I don't know whether the problem I have is related to a)Windows Domain authentication b)VPN settings or c)Exchange settings. I am making the guess at the moment...

I have a W2K server as my DC and another W2K server as E2K server. These servers are in the office where I locate. The IP addresses for the Domain PCs are like 10.75.0.xx.

I also have serveral remote offices which are set as workgroup type LAN. Each remote office has IP addresses like 10.75.1.xx, 10.75.2.xx.

All pcs are running W2K Pro / XP Pro.

The goal is to have the remote PCs connect to the E2K server through Router/VPN (Cisco/Watchguard), using native Exchange connection (MAPI).

I have added E2K server and DNS server's IP addresses in "hosts" file. I have also added DC IP address in Primary DNS Server entry.

The problem is, when users opening the messages with attachments - say 130KB sizewise - it takes about 30 seconds to open the item up and the client pc freeze up frequently.

Could someone out there shed a light for me in terms of which direction should I follow for the troubleshooting please?

Thanks

JennyG

 

[Big0range]

Sounds like the Exchange-thru-VPN setup is working fine. The remote users have to allow time for the entire email to download. If they are connecting through slower or more troublesome methods (dial-up, ISDN, or DSL), there's probably a bandwidth issue, or some packet loss is being experienced during the email download. Have you tried comparing the times of a file transfer to a remote machine to downloading email of the same approximate size? It's possible the machines aren't locking up at all, they're just busy trying to download their email.

 

[jennyg]

Hi,

Thanks for your reply. I tried File Transfer using PC Anywhere, the speed was 109 bytes/sec, through VPN tunnel on 128K ISDN line. It seems file transfering is quicker than email attchment opening. I wonder if I need to add the remote clients onto DNS lookup zones?

Thanks / JennyG

 

[Big0range]

don't use pcAnywhere, do a file transfer by opening a path with the unc (\\remotecomputer\C$). Email a file then transfer the file via unc, see how close or far apart the times are.

You should have all your clients resolved by DNS, and managed in the same zone Exchange is in.

 

[jennyg]

Hi,

I've picked a word document size 54.5KB. It took a good full minute to transfer over UNC, and took 13 seconds to open.

After I added remote client to DNS zone, do I need to rename their workgroup name to the same as my domain name?

Thanks / JennyG

 

[Big0range]

How did that file transfer time compare to opening the same file via email? You may not have a problem if problem other than connection speed if the times are similar. It sounds like you just have a slow connection if it takes a minute to transfer 54kb.

If your email clients are reaching the email server (and it sounds like they are if they can open their email folders), DNS isn't the problem. 1 minute for 54kb is approaches 2.5 to 3 minutes for a 130kb file (as stated in your first post). I don't think the machine or mail client is locking up; I think the users expect immediate results and are not being patient. How do the remote offices connect? Dial-up? ISDN? DSL?

 

[jennyg]

The file transfer is much slower than opening email attachment. You are right about the user's expectation. They were on POP3/SMTP setting before, all attachments were delivered to their pst locally and were opened immediately. Now as they are using Exchange mailboxes, the attachments will only be delivered when users trying to open them. This factor could contribute to the delay.

The link from remote sites are on 128K ISDN. My side is on 512K Frame Relay.